For some veterans, July 4 fireworks can be challenge

For Jennifer Trzicky of Wichita, fireworks can trigger PTSD.

Trzicky, a combat veteran, served in the Gulf War and was in the U.S. Navy from 1990 to 1997.

She was traveling with a group between Haifa, Israel, and Tel Aviv when a roadside bomb went off and killed a young girl that they couldn’t save.

The experience has stayed with her throughout the years.

The Fourth of July can be a challenging holiday for veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome because of the loud fireworks, mental health experts say.

It’s an ironic situation, since citizens wouldn’t be celebrating the freedom that’s so much a part of the Fourth of July holiday without the contributions made by veterans, said Jamie Lee Jacobs of the Counseling Cottage in Rome, Ga.

Fireworks can be a special trigger for veterans exposed to improvised explosive devices during fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, she said.

“You’re always on high alert waiting for something to explode. Just the anticipation of waiting for the fireworks can trigger them because they were hyper-vigilant waiting for something to go off when it didn’t,” Jacobs said.

For her part, Trzicky has a bright yellow sign in her yard that says she’s a veteran with PTSD and it asks for people to be “careful, cautious and courteous.”

When people are shooting off fireworks throughout the week, she suggests they go to their neighbors and give them a head’s up.

“Give us a warning,” she said. “Just give us a kindly knock on the door to say ‘we’re shooting them off.’ ... We’re not saying not to shoot them. We’re not trying to take away your rights.”

She’d like to see a large event in Wichita where veterans and their families could celebrate indoors, away from the loud booms of fireworks on July 4.

“We don’t really cater to that and we need to,” she said.

This story was originally published July 3, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "For some veterans, July 4 fireworks can be challenge."