Interesting questions. I would say yes, it does contribute to the war machine to call all of our soldiers heroes, because all of our soldiers are not heroes and putting them into that category automatically denotes that what they did was right and good, when what they really do may be right for the individual in the moment, but in many past wars, it's neither right nor good for the country as a whole.
Video games definitely contribute to the war machine. Video games especially, but also movies and many books, any media really. I remember as a kid being asked the question "are you a contentious objector?" and without even looking up from the paper saying "nope!", as a young kid, you don't understand what that truly means, and playing video games instills in you that killing people is OK in certain circumstances, like war. I'd agree, killing people is acceptable under the right circumstances, self defense, protecting a loved one, that type of thing, but games like MOH, COD, etc. tell a kid whose not old enough to realize the implications or politics of war that we're always on the good team and they're always on the bad team. It enforces our political foreign policy without ever asking why. Those kids don't ask why sometimes until after they're out of the military having racked up a body count they can't truly justify.
More soldiers die due to suicide than in battle, and this is one reason why.
