Every day, the Daily Dot finds something that people on Facebook are sharing and, in turn, shares it with you—with a little explanation. Here’s today’s share.
Millions of Americans celebrate the Fourth of July by thanking the troops and/or setting off fireworks. But on the anniversary of U.S. independence, the Facebook group Disabled American Veterans asks a disturbing question: do those lights and loud noises actually ruin the holiday for those who have seen combat?
“I have a very hard time with public displays and it isn’t the visual cues that bother me, it’s the sound and concussion!” commented Matthew Gantt, who according to his Facebook profile was in the Air Force, adding that he prefers to watch displays on TV. “Being there is a reminder of what I went through,” he said.
“I don’t want to deprive my Kids of the Wonder of Fireworks displays, but I flinch at every boom, and this makes my Wife uncomfortable too,” wrote Herman Morgan, a Vietnam vet. “I sweat patiently, and actually enjoy only the Big Finale, because I’m expecting it, and I know it will end the Stress.”
Just over 850 people have shared the photo and its accompanying question, as opposed to tens of thousands who have shared heartwarming images of troops returning home to their families.
Ed Conley, a Marine who was wounded in Vietnam, agreed with Disabled American Veterans. “It has been many years since I was seriously wounded in a rocket attack and was over run by NVA, [but] it still sends chills up my spine when these loud explosions unexpectedly go off day and night,” he wrote.
“I have come to really dislike the fourth of July,” he added, “because of the total lack of respect towards combat veterans in the sense that unthinking people insist on ‘celebrating’ by setting off endless barrages of fireworks.”
Photo via Facebook
