I think one of the downsides of the sort of obsession with romantic love and personal fulfillment is that the plain fact of the matter is that those feelings don't last for ever and so they better be replaced and reinforced by things that do.
I would say that the war correspondent gets more drinks more girls better pay and greater freedom than the soldier but at this stage of the game having the freedom to choose his spot and being allowed to be a coward and not be executed for it is his torture.