HARRISBURG, Pa. — Mike Tyler, an Army veteran who diagnosed himself with PTSD four years ago, is asking everyone to please respect his veteran status and forgo anything fun this Independence Day weekend.
Tyler, who served as a Quartermaster in the Army and once deployed to Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm, has a sign in his front yard asking neighbors to be courteous with their fireworks because a veteran with PTSD lives there.
"It's really important to me to push my PTSD in the 10 year old next door's face," said Tyler. "I mean, I never got hit with anything but Saddam was launching Scud missiles in our general direction. Every time I hear a firework go off I'm vaguely reminded of an event that's really insignificant in my life but that I refuse to let go of."
Tyler's neighborhood has shown overwhelming support for the former soldier.