Not sure I'd say the kids are "Special in Many Ways". Yes, it is very commendable and admirable to serve your country in the military. But I don't believe this makes a young man/women any more moral. Many consider christians and other religious people to have high morals and values. Yet, I know plenty of atheists in the world and those who don't attend church or any religious activities, to also be very moral and doing the right things in life. There are many athiests who don't drink, don't do drugs, don't commit crimes, don't rape, aren't promiscuous, save their virginity til marriage, etc... Same with kids who do not choose to enlist or attend the academies/ROTC.
There are a lot of reasons kids apply to the academies. I "WISH" all of them applied for the reasons you believe. I wish all of them attended because of selflessness, their desire to serve their country, patriotism, protect the constitution, etc... But that's simply not the case. There are many of kids who apply and attend the academies for the free education. They know from day 1 that they will leave after their 5 year commitment. There are some that come in because the academy was the only school that offered them the full ride scholarship. Believe it or not, the last study I looked at, "Granted it was a couple years ago", showed that at least 25-30% of those applying to the academies, it wasn't their first choice. Why do you think they have to offer 1700 appointments to get 1200-1300 acceptances??? Because 400 kids GOT THEIR FIRST CHOICE. And it wasn't the academy. Well, there are indeed many at the academy that DIDN'T get their first choice.
And while the majority of the cadets are from middle/upper classes of society, that's probably because 49-50% of society is considered "Middle Class". Add in another 5% for the upper class, (Those making over $200,000 per year), and you're at close to 55%. But my experience has shown that while "Class" has some bearing, it's the educational level of the parents who impact a kid's future. If you say the majority of academy kids are from middle/upper classes, I'd say that that is also 100% accurate for all kids that attend college. That the majority are from the middle/upper classes. Basically, I'm saying that the demographics of the academies are probably about the same for the demographics of college as a whole. Albeit, the academic standards for the academies are closer to those of the top-100 schools compare to the rest. AND, there isn't as much leniency for acceptance to the academies.
But don't anyone read my post that I'm saying that academy kids aren't special. They are. Especially the 50% or more who do actually want to serve their country and they turned down big name schools and scholarships to accept an appoint. "One of my candidates this year who just got an appointment, turned down some pretty impressive scholarships". But our cadets/appointees are not any more special than most college kids when it comes to their personalities, morals, values, etc... I think you'll find similar students as our cadets in colleges all across the country.