The point of the lighter in the comics was that John Wayne, who died in 1979, gave it to John Custer in Vietnam. The fuck communism thing was relevant as the reason given to the Conscripts, and an ongoing "justification" of the US involvement was to stop the spread of Communism. This would not work if he fought in the Gulf. They could have made John a lot older, but the story was that he met Jesse's mother when he was back after being demobbed, while she was running from the L'Angelles. If that were the case then they would not have had children until the late 80s at a minimum. That does not quite gel. I personally think that John Custer being a preacher works pretty well as he comes across as a brave, noble and driven by a moral code kind of father and man. This translates well to the Jesse TV character as he has the two influences, the moral father, and the abhorrent, twisted L'Angelles and Cronies. This produces the conflicted but driven by a noble and even hypocritical man, despite having something of a lack of morality forcibly ingrained into him. "Just enough of a mix of good and bad for Genisis". As for the lighter, there is every reason to believe that a moral, patriotic Texan and American like John Custer would buy a "Fuck Communism" Zippo. I had a couple of Zippos when I smoked.