CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On this holiday we celebrate our independence and honor those who served.
Many of us relate the sound of popping fireworks to a time of celebration, however, this sound is not the same for everyone.
When you think of the Fourth of July, you think of food, fun, and of course, fireworks.
Many of us are looking forward to enjoying, the fireworks spectacular, but this may not be the case for all of us.
Martin Longoria is a retired army major, he had the chance to serve our country in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Longoria suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, he says the use of fireworks can oftentimes be triggering.
"The fireworks kind of for us veterans, I have served in Iraq and Afghanistan we have a tendency of hyper-vigilance and it is really a time where we get worked up a little bit," Longoria said.
Despite Longoria being a retired veteran, there are several moments from when he served he can't forget.
"It caused that hyper vigilance, even though we have already been there and done it, it's still kind of hard to forget so you still have that part of your memory in you so it makes it very difficult."
Fireworks are not allowed within city limits, but for those who plan to use fireworks near their neighborhoods, it's important to be considerate of their neighbors.
"If you are going to pop fireworks and you know a veteran who lives next to you or down the street, please give them the courtesy like I was saying it hyper-vigilance it causes hat alert in the veteran and it is very disturbing." Longoria said.
Longoria says he doesn't expect people to not enjoy fireworks, but just to be considerate and have compassion for those who can find these sounds triggering.
"Be courteous of those veterans that live down the street from you or even your neighbors it really causes some distress for some of us it just makes you go into a panic mode." Longoria said.
