Some Former Armed Service Members Experience Independence Day Differently Than Most

All the booms, bangs and Fourth of July festivities can be triggering for some folks who served our country. Mental health experts said Sunday can be challenging for veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.

While many people are staying out all night having a good time, there are veterans who are happy just to make it home alive.

Myriam Navrro, who served in the Air Force for 13 years, said many of her brothers and sisters in the armed forces are still out there fighting for our freedom. 

For this reason, Navrro said this 4th of July she doesn't feel like celebrating.

"I don't want to come out of the house. I don't want to go outside,” Navrro said. “I don't want to listen to nothing."

Brian Bickle, who served in the Army from 1984-91, Independence Day picks at an open wound. 

"You work so many holidays it gets to the point where it's just another day,” Bickle said. 

"We're working all the time and trying to get ahead with our days without thinking what our loved ones or our families are doing back at home,” Navrro said. 

Mental health experts said fireworks and patriotic songs can trigger a memory sending veterans with PTSD into fight-or-flight mode.

"They're always waiting for that next bad thing to happen,” psychiatrist Dr. Nicole Washington said. “Sitting with their back to the wall. They're facing the door. They're jumping.” 

They could be 30 years removed from combat, but one bang can send them right back in the trenches. Flashbacks can even tap into their sense of smell and sound. 

"Loud noises will trigger memories of friends that you lost and, for years when I came back from Saudi Arabia in (19)91, I couldn't listen to God Bless the U.S.,” Bickle said. 

"At night, that's when the nightmares start and all the bad stuff taunts you and then you have to take medication and it doesn't help either,” Navrro said. 

Dr. Washington has patients who are staying in a hotel over the weekend so they can be insulated and isolated. She said others turn to noise canceling headphones and prescribed sedatives. 

"What better way to honor those people who have allowed us those freedoms than by being a little bit more mindful of what they're going through this weekend,” Dr. Washington said. 

PTSD can be debilitating but Bickle and Navrro said they'd raise their right hand again. 

"Somebody had to do it,” Navrro said. 

"Yeah, somebody had to do it,” Bickle said.