Rick, Dave, I'm not giving grief to anyone who looks for vet discounts.
I'm just saying I rarely ever do so and never go looking for them. I was raised in a family where all but one of the uncles on Dad's side (he was the youngest of 5, all boys) were WW2 vets, and my Mom's only brother was in 'Nam. Dad was too young for Korea but way too old for 'Nam and served in the USAF in the late 50s when everyone had the draft hanging over them, for the minimum time and then got out. His father was a WW1 vet who fought in France, and his Grandfather was in the Spanish-Ameircan War. His great grandfather fought in the Civil War (and lived well into the 1930s but Dad doesn't remember ever seeing him). Dad has never made a big deal of being a 'vet' considering, I suppose, that all but one of his brothers fought in WW2 (all 5 served, but one brother was also an age that missed any conflicts). All my uncles who were in wars have passed on.
My brother retired as a USAF LtCol, having been in several war zones, but never while the shooting was going on.
But in my family, it's all hard for any of us to escape from the old-school mindset of a 'vet' being someone who was in a foxhole (or in one Uncle's case, being shot at while flying over the 'Hump' from India or China in a cargo plane).
When peopel thank me for my service, I feel very self-conscious about that. Yes, I'm very proud of my service, as it's really the only time in my life I ever was truly challenged by anything like that before or since (they thought I was a crazy old man humping through Army ROTC in my late 20s, the next youngest guy I pinned my 2LT bars on with was 5 years younger and was a prior-service SGT)...
I did have some stuff happen when I was in the military but nothing like I know happened to combat vets.
Your mileage will of course vary.
But I'm not finding fault with anyone who seeks or uses a vet discount. I have used them from time to time but I normally don't go looking for them...