SPOKANE -- As President Obama makes his speech regarding the end of combat operations in Iraq a group of 18 local Iraq war veterans weighed in on the transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn while attending a retreat about 25 miles north of Spokane.

The goal of this retreat is to help Iraq war veterans reintegrate into society by participating in everything from yoga to kayaking and a ropes course. While one or two had opinions about the troop withdrawal from Iraq many of them didn’t want to talk about it, focusing instead on their recovery from the war, both physically and emotionally.

“Not all wounds are visible,” Army Master Sergeant Dave Johnson said.

Iraq was a war that left scars on all of them.

“We backed up and ran over a triple stack IED,” Marine Lance Corporal Joey Lowe said.

“I have PTSD,” Army Staff Sergeant John Alcazar said.

“Traumatic brain injury from multiple IED blasts,” MSGT Johnson said.

And now seven years after it began combat missions in Iraq are over.

“It’s like playing a football game and saying the game’s over and everyone goes back to what they were doing which I think is what’s going to happen,” SSGT John Alcazar said. “We're going to say, we went, we tried to fix it, and they’re going to go, thanks, we're going to go right back to who we were, thanks.”

SSGT Alcazar served two tours in Iraq. The father of two compares the future of Iraq to parenting.

“Once it’s out of our hands it’s kind of like raising a child, you do all you can and you put them out there and cross your fingers,” He said.

“We did our job, we kind of stop watching the news you know, we've got to focus on our recovery and move forward,” LCPL Lowe said.

Lowe was paralyzed in 2005 after an IED exploded under his tank. While the Obama administration says the transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn marks a major step toward ending the war for Joey Lowe it’s another day of healing.

“With these guys, I’m just one of the guys. All the insecurities go out the window, let your guard down,” he said.

As Operation Iraqi Freedom ends and Operation New Dawn begins these servicemen hope for a new day in Iraq and for each other.

“We hope our buddies come home safe and they finish the job over there,” Lowe said . The retreat these veterans are attending is put on by the Spokane Vet Center along with the Spokane Valley Fire Department and Spokane County Fire District 8.

The Vet Center invites all combat veterans to call them at (509) 444-VETS.