d. hillier to get to this day, a day for smiles and hugs.been a tough journey. >> welcome home. >> reporter: hillier arrived in vietnam in 1968. here he is at his camp as a 25-year-old marine sergeant, third generation of his family to serve his country in a war. how did vietnam change you from that young man that you see on the video? >> wow. part of me changed forever over there. >> reporter: hillier's tour in vietnam lasted 13 months. the war was deeply unpopular back home, and its brutality left its mark on him. when he returned to the u.s., he faced a homecoming, he says, he could not have imagined, a scene similar to these as antiwar protesters greeted his bus load of troops, in their case, spitting and throwing rocks. >> reporter: what did you lose in the moment between the man welcoming you home and then getting on that bus? >> i lost some innocence. i lost a sense of pride in what i had done. >> reporter: he became a church pastor, all the time fighting feelings of anger and depression. he twice tried to commit suicide. three years