Between that book/movie, Slaughterhouse Five, and The World According to Garp - we've pretty much covered my psyche as well. (Gotta throw in strong doses of Michener and Crichton for entertainment value....) You are absolutely correct that there will be a time for pacifism and reflection, there must. Unfortunately, this will have to wait. No matter what you (or I) make of the Christian bible, there is a bit of wisdom there that is worth the read, even if the goal is not to become Christian.

I guess that to the books I've listed up top, I might have to add Ecclesiastes 3:1 from the Old Testament.

"
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."

As sick as this may sound, I'm slightly comforted by the idea that there is a time for war... and a time for peace. We're just gonna have to get through the time for war.