FWIW, I have never allowed a person in uniform at a restaraunt pay for their meals. My daughters once asked why a sailor was waving, trying to get our attention once as we were leaving a small town restaraunt, and I told them that I'd paid his families bill. As they started to realize that I had never let them know about this, they started to tear up when they recalled all the other times I had needed to go back into a restaraunt to "take care of something" and that Dad wasn't looking for any glory. I get a large lump in my throat everytime I see someone in uniform and now my children do as well. They now understand the potential danger our military can face at a moments notice and have a very deep respect for that now. My wife had figured it out years ago when she thought we had been billed twice at restaraunts. She started doing the same thing.
