I'm giving them credit for fostering the ethnic food culture that exploded after they returned, sure. The refugees brought the food ways that the veterans were excited to try again, back here in the States. This is a very well known phenomenon that is as true for curry shops and WI shops in the UK. Your Pauline Kael Syndrome notwithstanding, US GI's are often interested in the cultures of those they were paid to kill and subjugate. My own father returned from depriving West Germany of the benefits of the GDR's worker's paradise with an enduring love of Weinerschnizel, red cabbage with apples and Mosel wine. He credits the military with expanding his horizons beyond the small town, Depression era upbringing and fostering in him a desire to travel and see the world.