Yup. Me too.
I’m not suggesting the guy is a fake.
I’m suggesting he’s trading on the current wave of veteran worship. His 2 years of clerk typing way back then are irrelevant to his candidacy now. If he wanted to tout his most relevant resume item it’d be “local furniture store owner for 15 years.” But that wouldn’t garner as many votes.
Active and retired.
Whenever someone thanks me for my service I step in real close and scream, “I didn’t do it for you!” It seems to be effective.
I think he means, specifically be a Vietnam Veteran?
add in a “I just like killing people!” for effect.
Salute them with your little soldier.
“This is my weapon, this is my gun …” 
When I get veterans in my cashier line, I always give them a snappy salute. I think that says it all.
FYI, the vast majority of veterans are neither.
I still have my (expired) ID. I got called back into the Army two years after I got out because I was still in the IRR and the “Surge” happened, and I guess the IRR didn’t care so much that I kept it. But most veterans have to give their ID back before they can go home. Savers (a Goodwill clone) lets me use it for a 30% discount, which is pretty nice, but everywhere else I try to use it they say it doesn’t count because it is expired.
So, “military discount” is nowhere near as inclusive as a “veteran’s discount”. Which is why almost nobody offers them, except a few restaurants on Veteran’s day.
Of course, which is why I said “Vietnam”, in response to a comment about the, you know, Vietnam War. I wouldn’t have thought I should have to explain it. But thanks.
The Duffelblog*'s view.
*Military satire blog
Ahem. I have worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (formerly the Veterans Administration) for over 30 years. My husband (a Veteran) has worked for VA for more than 41 years. We both work on the benefits side (versus the health care or cemetery sides), but due to our jobs, we have both had the opportunity to work with the Veteran public on many occasions.
My experience is this (and I am generalizing). Pre-Vietnam era Veterans are taken aback when I thank them for their service. Such a gesture sometimes brings them to tears, especially outside of the VA environment. Veterans of the Vietnam era and after have a mixed response, from indifference, to gratitude, to embarrassment. I have chosen to limit my “thanks for your service” in my personal life to Korean War and earlier Veterans. On a professional level, until recently, I was responsible for several benefit programs for “wounded warriors.” Under those circumstances, I never hesitated to thank them for their service. And I did my very best to see that they got every benefit and service available to them. That population seemed to genuinely appreciate the expression of thanks.
Now, on a completely personal level, only 2 percent of our country has served in the military, which has been all volunteer since (I think) 1974. Quietly, I say “thank you.”
I agree that there is some degree of false “hero worship” for Veterans in general. But there are some of us who are genuinely grateful to those who have sacrificed, even in peace time, to serve our country. To me, a simple nod of acknowledgement in response to a genuine “thanks for your service” will suffice.