I did not used to hear the word "sacrifice" a lot. I hear it a lot now. I don't like it as a standard of behavior and wish it would stop.
Was your grandpa that fought in WWII (assuming for a second you had one) a barbarian?
Is it barbaric? Maybe, but, whether we like it or not, the world has a defnite component of barbarism to it. There are wars going on as we speak, and there are threats of much bigger wars constantly hanging in the air.
It not impossible to eliminate physical danger out of our lives and to dismiss it (because one does not witness it first-hand at the moment) is not very mature. I'm not even mentioning the natural calamities, fires, car crashes etc., where there's room for heroism as well.
I'd just prefer to see no sacrifice of any kind, especially on my account.
Fighting doesn't make one a barbarian. The belief that suffering and sacrifice are the path to glory are.