Which helped so much for George H. W. Bush in '92, Bob Dole in '96, John Kerry in '04, and of course McCain himself in '08.
Being a war hero is vastly over rated in Presidential politics. It matters when you were the commander over an army in a big war and won some important battles like Ike, Grant, Washington, Zachary Taylor and Andrew Jackson it can be a decisive winning card. But, lets just say I don't believe it was ever a decisive winning card for any war heroes who weren't generals.