It still sucks and you should NEVER have to go thru it. You should have your beer tab picked up by the bar, IMHO. (Thank you for your service.)
Thank you.
I tried to find an old english pub song called "Tommy Boy" from ww1 era I believe. It tells a tale similar to what happened to these young Marines in DC.
In '73, right after sKerry had given his ghengis ghan speech, we had a base directive (Camp Lejeune) that instructed all personnel NOT to wear their uniforms while visiting non-military oriented towns while off duty. At that time the histeria was pretty deep and as sucky as it was, it kept the peace.
This nightspot has the right to do what they did even through the men in uniform refused service are the ones that maintain that right for them.
Good thing they weren't smokers! :-)