On Saturday night (June 18), there were two hours worth of loud, intense, fireworks including mortars, put on by our Muckleshoot Tribe. As a nurse Vietnam veteran, relaxing in my home, I was literally assaulted by the sounds and sequencing of the mortars and the sight of the smoke in the night sky.

My body reacted by being jolted in such a way that my back and legs began to tense and spasm while the skin of my back felt like it was on fire. I have had two chiropractic appointments plus an hour of bodywork and still, on June 25 I continue dealing with the effects of the mortars.

As an operating room nurse at the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi, Vietnam in 1967, we were bombarded my mortars all too often. More than once, I was standing up doing surgery on an American soldier when mortars were directed at us and were falling all around.

If my body is reacting now, I wonder what the mortars are doing to my brother and sister veterans? I also know many people with pets who are terrified when the fireworks go off.

I fervently ask that the Muckleshoot Tribe and all the people who like to set off fireworks in neighborhoods – stop! Please have respect and compassion for our veterans and animals. Have one planned celebration with fireworks on the Fourth of July and call it good.

– Sarah L. Blum