The eruption and crackle of vibrant fireworks across the July night sky isn’t always beautiful. The sight of the American flag being brandished, and sported on T-shirts, tank tops and sneakers isn’t always fashion. For many veterans, the Fourth of July is not a time of celebration and patriotism.
The United States has always taken pride in celebrating its “dominance” both nationally and on the world stage. The Fourth of July is this country’s Super Bowl. But this puts many veterans with PTSD into bouts of triggers that are both daunting and debilitating. Whether it’s the sound of fireworks that are strikingly reminiscent of mortars going off or the sight of the flag on the shoulders of beer-chugging goons that to many veterans of war represents the loss of lives from military service, these flashbacks cause many veterans to relive a time they fight so hard daily to fast-forward through.
The most patriotic thing that we can do for the Fourth of July is to reach out to the veterans in our lives and be a shoulder to lean on for any of them who are in need. And that’s more satisfying than Jello pretzel salad.
Gino Ferretti
South Park
The writer is communications coordinator for the Western Pennsylvania chapter of Veterans for Peace.