SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — Courtney Tamagini has always looked up to her older brother; she tells Newswatch 16 how he led a group of soldiers through combat during the war in Afghanistan.
But when he came back home to Schuylkill County, he had to fight a different kind of battle.
"My brother used to say this all the time that he misses brotherhood. He didn't feel like he had those supports anymore and the structure and importance," said Courtney Tamagini, Clinical Outcomes Group Inc. clinical supervisor.
Since Tamagini's brother passed away three years ago, she and others at Pottsville's Clinical Outcomes Group Inc. started vocals for veterans.
A concert series will be held to raise funds to help veterans in Schuylkill County get the mental health resources they need.
"Even when he started in the military at age 18, I wanted to help veterans. It's very difficult for them to leave the military and assimilate into civilian life," said Tamagini.
"You know, they're coming home and dealing with that, and that's not the injury that you see. And that's the thing I think is the most dangerous because you can't see it," said Kelly Examitas, Vocals for Veterans coordinator.
The growing need for more veterans to utilize mental health services is something veterans affairs medical centers are seeing with their patients.
"In 2020, ages 18 to 44, suicide was the leading cause of death among the veteran population," said John Lucas, Lebanon VA Suicide Prevention coordinator.
Specifically, at COGI, they see veterans battling substance abuse to cope with their moral injuries from combat.
"That's when someone is being asked to do something or needs to do something as a part of their military service that would go against their moral beliefs," said Examitas.
To bring awareness of the mental scars veterans come home with, Vocals for Veterans is hosting a concert Friday at the Schuylkill County Fairgrounds, saying everyone in the audience can help support the men who fought alongside her brother.
"It provides support for these veterans, and it's giving them hope that people care about them when they get home and have to be in civilian life," added Tamagini.
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