It's pretty simple, the conservative right, equates military service, with religious devotion (God and Country). They have fused their nationalism with their religion, and thus anyone that serves in the armed forces, is not just a "good little american" but a "soldier of god" and all that crap. So they prop up such service with the double layer of lionization of holy service, and country service.Few pages late, but I've never understood America's fetish like obsession with veterans.
The fact that many of the people actually IN the military don't see it like that, is a secondary issue to the way the party as a whole represents the service to their masses. You will often hear people, usually the family members of veterans, when confronted with criticisms about their family member, or just stuff in general, respond with "My grand daddy served in WW 2!! So you can't say that shit about my party because it's offensive to him! You spit on his service AND god!" And that's not hyperbole, I've heard statements like that all the fucking time. "You can't say I'm wrong, because god and the army! Checkmate, mic drop, I win! And if you dare to continue to criticize me, you are 1. Unamerican, and 2. A servant of satan!"