Fireworks and the accompanying smell of gunpowder bring up bad memories for many veterans. Many panic and they know that the sound and the smell will have an effect on them.
Justin Bajema, a former Marine corporal, can't help but think of a different kind of explosion when he hears the sound of fireworks.
He was on his second tour in Iraq in 2004 when his patrol vehicle was attacked by insurgents. His legs were filled with shrapnel from the blast and his recovery involved eight surgeries, post-traumatic stress disorder and extensive hospitalization.
He is now a spokesperson for the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes. Bajema lives in Grand Rapids Michigan. As he knows the difficulties go beyond the battle scars and he is trying to raise the awareness of the challenges that injured veterans face.
According to freep.com Bajema said,
"The hardest thing for me was getting my confidence back. Here I was, this 20-something young man, and all of a sudden, I felt helpless. That was a feeling I had never had before."
For many veterans the problems they have are their mounting bills and no way to pay them.
Pat Norberto, the coalition's director of development said,
"The immediate needs are often financial."
When there are severe injuries it prevents veterans from obtaining a job. The problem is compounded when family members have to leave their jobs to care for their injured loved one. The debts pile up quickly, and the credit card companies are often less than sympathetic.
The coalition is a New York-based nonprofit organization. They provide financial support for severely injured veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and help them adjust back into civilian life. It was started in 2004 and since then the group has distributed more than $11 million to 6,300 service members.
Some of their programs include emergency financial relief to prevent car repossessions and from having their utilities shutoff. They help with job searches and new or renovated homes adapted for disabled residents.
Norberto said, that a highlight of the program is the annual Road to Recovery Conference, which is a paid five-day trip for 150 severely injured troops and their families.
The conference this year in December will be at the Walt Disney Swan Resort in Orlando where they will help the veterans plan their careers and their all-around recovery.
Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a military disability rating of at least 30% qualify for Road to Recovery and other coalition programs. These vets can register for the conference online at
www.saluteheroes.org.
According to Norberto, the number of soldiers injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 may be anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000, depending on how the figure is calculated.
The advances in technology has helped soldiers survive injuries that in the past would have been fatal, but this has also created a greater need for support during the long process of rehabilitation.
Norberto said that there are many ways that citizens can help, such as participating in a coalition buddy program in which volunteers take a veteran out to a game, movie or lunch. Anyone who would like to help can obtain more information on volunteering at the coalition Web site.
Bajema said he is planning to spend this afternoon celebrating with family. But the evening's fireworks will be bittersweet.
Bajema said,
"It reminds me of a price that's paid. But I'm also humbled to know I'm blessed to be a citizen of this country."
Another young vet Max Dominquez, 21, lives in the the dormitory at Guiding Light Mission in Grand Rapids Michigan while he is undergoing treatment for traumatic brain injury and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder from a roadside bomb last summer.
He served 12 months in Iraq and is dreading the fireworks. He says he had nothing against the Fourth of July but when the fireworks go off he plans to be far away.
He is planning to leave town and hunker down with the radio turned up so he can block the sound of the explosions. He fears that it will trigger a flashback to the day he was injured.
According to MLive.com Dominguez said while he covered his face with his hands as if he was trying to block out the memory,
"I hope to God not to be around here. Just talking about it, I can imagine seeing it and hearing it."
The number of veterans that struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder continues to grow.
From the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003 there have been about 40,000 that have been diagnosed with the illness, which is also known as PTSD. This includes 14,000 in 2007.
Don Kramer a Vietnam veteran said,
"You never get used to it. You close your mind to it."
He also said some of the veterans have learned to cope with the annual fireworks but for some it's still a struggle.
Kramer who is a volunteer at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, recently accompanied a group of World War II vets to a baseball game. After the game when the fireworks went off he said a couple of the veterans panicked.
Kramer said,
"One guy started crying. "I just put my hand on his shoulder and started talking to him, made him understand this wasn't going to hurt him, that this was a thing of beauty. It brought back a lot of memories."
When Max Dominguez returned from Iraq last November, began drinking.
He said,
"That was the only way I learned to cope. I could go to sleep without waking up every hour."
He checked himself into a Veterans Administration hospital in Minnesota, his home state, then the VA hospital in Battle Creek Michigan. He came to Grand Rapids a week ago because he heard the city has good services for veterans. He has now been sober for 90 days.
His hope is to stay there and find a job as a carpenter which is what he did before his Minnesota National Guard unit was activated.
He said
"I'm proud of what I did. I'm not blaming my country. I volunteered. I served my time. Life goes on."
He said after he heard some boys setting off some firecrackers,
"At first I was terrified. Somebody drops something, or a truck backfires, you have no control over your thoughts. It's almost like your whole world disappears, and you zero in on where that sound came from."
He added that he doesn't begrudge those who enjoy the celebration but he said,
"I love a parade and I love celebrating the Fourth of July, but these fireworks, just these small ones are freaking me out."
Some veterans dread the Fourth of July fireworks
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