I got hired on, in Boulder, in 1971, because I was a vet, my short hair tipped them off. Man, I was grateful, the vibes were quite strange, GIs were really scorned.
Incidentally, I later worked for a contractor who had worked at APO San Francisco, you know, they were the ones busting up the boxes of cookies sent to the GIs by their families. The creep was proud! I walked off the job, left him high and dry.
Damn that makes me angry. You showed great restraint by not kicking his ass.