[Phillips:] Just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider Arizona's controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants. The state had appealed federal court rulings that had blocked key parts of the reforms. The Obama administration has also argued against the measure saying immigration issues are under the exclusive authority of the federal government. Arizona says Washington has failed to control the problems and has a right to protect its residents. Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is meeting with President Obama this hour. They're talking about how the two nations will cooperate in a new era without U.S. troops. We'll learn more next hour. They're actually holding a news conference. They'll also lay out a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor our war dead. The U.S. is getting ready to pull pretty much all of its forces out of Iraq by the end of the month. About 6,000 men and women are still there. More than 4,000 U.S. troops were killed in the Iraq war. Nearly 32,000 of our men and women wounded. Even those who came home unscathed physically have scars. Many of them still fighting battles. The same battles could await those troops about to close the door on nearly nine years of war. CNN goes in depth on the final days of the conflict I had a chance to talk with a group of vets about how it's changed their lives forever.
[Unidentified Male:] Mission objectives, hit the target.
[Unidentified Female:] Seven aircrafts did drop bombs over Iraq.
[Phillips:] Eight years ago I was there when the Iraq war began, from the air.
[Unidentified Male:] They've got it in their sights.
[Phillips:] Land. [on camera]: The number of threats ground troops are dealing with. And sea. [on camera]: There are five weapon stations on this special operations craft. I met some of the bravest men and women I've ever known. A bravery that came at a physical and mental price. [on camera]: In one word, how would you describe the war in Iraq?
[Unidentified Male:] Sacrifice.
[Unidentified Female:] Bittersweet.
[Unidentified Male:] Mistake.
[Phillips:] These are veterans of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," from the Army, Air Force, Marines. All impacted in some way by this war. [on camera]: Was the war worth it to you?
[Josh Aguilar, Iraq War Veteran:] As an infantryman I was on the ground a lot. I talked to a lot of families and individuals in the Iraqi populous.
[Phillips:] Staff Sergeant Josh Aguilar was on the ground when it began, his first of three deployments.
[Aguilar:] I felt as long as I gave somebody else the opportunity to have the same democracy, same hopes and freedoms that we can have every day, maybe some of those things that I did, some of the sacrifices that my friends made were worth a little bit of something.
[Phillips:] Aguilar retired six months ago and starts school in January. [on camera]: Sarah, how about you? Was it worth it?
[Sarah Oldridge, Iraq War Veteran:] I think I'm on the fence. I know there have been a lot of Iraqi casualties, but how many more would there have been if we weren't there?
[Phillips:] Staff Sergeant Sarah Oldridge is now a paralegal in the Air Force Reserve and works at a private security company. [on camera]: You were a teenager building bombs. How did you process that?
[Oldridge:] You build those bombs. They don't come back. You know that someone's dead and it's hard to be happy about that, but at the same time, I was happy that it wasn't me.
[Phillips:] How did that change you?
[Oldridge:] I think at the time you just kind of become cold and callous to it. It's self-preservation.
[Phillips:] That you went from being a U.S. marine to studying peace and conflict at U.C. Berkeley. Talk about a switch.
[Unidentified Male:] I have say hard time understanding why we went there in the first place, going in under false pretenses for weapons of mass destruction. I etting out of the military took me at least a year to try to negotiate being a civilian again.
[Phillips:] Negotiate being a civilian. What do you mean by that?
[Unidentified Male:] I was very definitely ready to end my five-year enlistment, but when I got out I didn't anticipate the feeling of loss, especially in terms of really strong ties and bonds between me and the guys that I served with.
[Jessi Tseng, Iraq War Veteran:] I struggled with seeing my friends contemplate suicide.
[Phillips:] Jesy Tseng was an Army sergeant in Iraq, an assistant to a brigade commander. Now with a degree in sociology, she's dedicating her life to saving fellow vets.
[Tseng:] Seeing them deal with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, homelessness, that was the most difficult thing for me to see. I witnessed them save someone's life in Iraq and they can't save their own anymore? It hurt me.
[Phillips:] Ramsy Raher was an army specialist, honorably discharged just five months ago. He's now living in a transitional housing facility. [on camera]: You've also struggled quite a bit since you got back. You're two months sober. That's positive.
[Ramsey Raher, Iraq War Veteran:] Yes.
[Phillips:] Why did you turn to alcohol?
[Raher:] I had to see good patriotic Americans with good fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, pay the ultimate sacrifice and that played a heavy emotional toll on myself.
[Phillips:] Ramsey received two purple hearts in less than a year.
[Raher:] There was small arms contact, mortar attacks, interact firearm bases. I mean you're constantly dealing with a barrage of ammunitions. Some of those events still haunt me.
[Phillips:] Do you feel safe now?
[Raher:] Now that I'm sober, yes.
[Phillips:] The war on Iraq, how did it impact your marriages, your families?
[Oldridge:] You know how they say the first year of marriage is tough? Try deploying three months after you get married. You learn a lot about yourself, about your marriage, about your spouse. We had a lot of fights, but we talked it out and I can definitely say that our marriage is much stronger.
[Phillips:] Josh, you've got a bit of a different story.
[Aguilar:] A little bit. I was married six months before I deployed for the first time in Iraq. I very specifically remember writing my wife a letter saying things are different for me. I can feel them. I can tell. So when I came home on top of me dealing with my own issues and on top of her becoming pregnant with our first child, it caused a lot of big gaps in our relationship. By the time I deployed for my second deployment a year and a half later, it was over. As I was walking out the door, I already knew this is the last time we're going to share a home together.
[Phillips:] Our troops are coming home. What's your advice?
[Raher:] My advice is just listen to the command. They do a very good job of giving mandatory briefings that deal with subjects such as suicide, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse and don't diminish the good work that you did.
[Oldridge:] You have to be open. You have to communicate. You have to be willing to talk about what you're feeling. Otherwise, you just going to ball it up and be angry.
[Matt Howard, Iraq War Veteran:] My advice is just listen to the command. They do a very good job of giving mandatory briefings that deal with subjects such as suicide, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse and don't diminish the good work that you did. Realistically, people are not necessarily meant to kill other people. They're going to have a reaction to that.
[Aguilar:] Fighting those emotions and fighting those problems on your own isn't going to help. You fight as a team. You need help as a team.
[Tseng:] Eighteen veterans succeed in committing suicide a day and 32 veterans attempt to commit suicide every day. These are insane statistics and it's real. I always think about everyone that we've lost in Iraq, and I live my life to fulfill what they could have done in the future but they can't now.
[Phillips:] Five voices of survival and sacrifice soon to be joined by the nearly 40,000 troops headed home leaving Iraq for good. Coming up next, the man who led shock and awe, Admiral Timothy Keating. It's his turn to reflect on the Iraq war. I'll ask him what has changed and stayed the same and what advice he has for the thousands of troops coming home for good.