I am a Vietnam Veteran. when I got home I got called a baby killer and war criminal. I felt like a WWII veteran coming home then there was John Hanoi Kerry and Jane Fonda.
Thank you for serving. I earned the same treatment for doing nothing: I was awarded an Army ROTC 4 year scholarship on 4/1/72. Once it was announced two days later, that's when the verbal barrage began.
I had the most valuable scholarship of my 550+ senior class, and a few teachers said to me how "disappointed" they were with my accomplishment. My fellow students used the same vitriol that you encountered.