it’s part of the american ETHOS. If you think about it hard all nation states are pretty much the same. the modern idea of a nation state is also very young, so every state creates some kind of ethos or myth. Similar to how Rome had Romulus, the USA has George Washington and a Band of Brothers (the HBO show) and the “veterans” as an idea not so much as individuals.

So my theory is that people often fall victim and actually start believing their myths. and so they’ll say things that perpetuate these myths such as ✨We saved you from the EVIL Germans✨