Sorry you had such a shitty experience! Despite being spat on in the late 60s and early 70s, mine was a lot better, but then, I wasn’t a chopper pilot, just an artilleryman.
It is funny, but every parade or ceremony filled me with pride, because I believed I was carrying on a proud tradition. My late maternal Grandfather was in a formal ceremony in France, where his rifle, out of the entire company, was inspected by General Pershing.
Different strokes for different folks. It sounds like you spent your career, either sitting on your ass with one hand between your legs, or trashing traditions of the service to be a “good guy”. But, that is my judgmental take on it. Full disclosure...I was nearly killed in June of 1980 due to the poor judgement of a chopper pilot in an OH-58.
I had a great experience in the military. I just preferred real work and real missions. I had plenty. Shining boots, dressing up for parades, etc. wasn’t my favorite. Hours that could have been better spent training. More flight time, more range time, etc. I’ll take a soldier with a wrinkled uniform who qualifies expert on his assigned weapon.