Retired Lt. Col. Kurt Kosmatka, 50, is interviewed by the Associated Press at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Even when injuries don't involve combat, the recovery process can be a time of reflection and bonding with others in the hospital wards, said Kosmatka, who came down with a disease while in Iraq in 2007 that has weakened his immune system and left him with respiratory problems. He spent more than a year at Walter Reed and has been at the VA hospital in Washington since January. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)