YSU’s veterans center: proof we care

Sal Giunta is a gambling man, and he would bet that he’d have been in the 50 percent of his soldier group who are thriving and successful today in their post-combat life.

But he struggles over the 50 percent of his buddies who he said have lost their way, some of whom killed themselves or died in other ways. But he knows he could be among them, and an honor bestowed on him gives him a chance to help them.

Giunta earned the U.S. military’s highest distinction, the Medal of Honor for bravery and action beyond the call of duty. The medal, presented in 2010, is a small ribbon for an enormous and fearless act Giunta performed in the heat of battle in 2007.

His team was ambushed while on night patrol in the worst of Afghanistan’s territories. (Watch “Restrepo” on YouTube for a look at their area).

Through hundreds of bullets, Giunta charged through the enemy line to kill one and chase away another who had been carrying off a wounded U.S. soldier as a battle prize. Giunta dragged his partner back, secured him behind a mound, then re-engaged in the battle.

That event, which he said lasted about 3 minutes, earned him an honor that has given him a platform to speak. It brought him here last week as Youngstown State University prepares to open its $1.25 million Veterans Resource Center this Friday.

It has been talked of for two years, and amazingly put together in just eight months. The James and Coralie Centofanti Charitable Foundation’s $200,000 gift propelled the start of the center, which has been driven by Bernie Kosar Sr., Carl Nunziato and former Sen. Harry Meshel.

It’s a facility that stunned Giunta.

“The vets center I saw is not even a steppingstone, it’s a launchpad to get these [soldiers] together to facilitate the healing process. [The facility] is validation that we care.”

He says unflinchingly that while people say America has been at war for 14 years, truth is just 1 percent of America has, and many are now home and in need.

Giunta visited our newsroom the day he was here, and it was unique to watch specialness enter a room. Word of his visit had gotten to our production director, who made it to the front step to meet him. As Giunta walked through the newsroom, there was a general quietness while some staffers rose to shake his hand and thank him for his service to America.

His story of how he enlisted is funny and classic Americana. He was a “sandwich artist” at Subway in Iowa, he said with a grin. An ad came on TV offering a free T-shirt if you visited a recruiter. He did.

He had no clue what he wanted out of the Army besides the T-shirt. But he saw a poster on the wall of a parachute. With that idea, off he went, and Italy became his home. He successfully completed one tour of combat, and returned to Italy ready to go home for good with his four-year commitment almost done.

Then word came out of a “stop-loss” order that mandated extended service for all active staff. He laughed that the recruiter with the T-shirt never warned him about “stop-loss.”

He was redeployed to Afghanistan and ... well ... now he talks to thousands more than 200 nights per year and walks as specialness through places such as our newsroom.

I assumed our staff reception is normal for him, and asked him what that’s like.

“That’s cool. ... And it’s everywhere. It’s in the heart of American people. I just wish more of my buddies could see that. They get down on themselves, and they don’t get enough of that.”

That’s why he’s so excited about the new YSU center.

“The vets center that’s happening here is incredible. Our [combat] actions did not change our lives. The validation of those actions [back home] changed us. That validation either pulls us together or brings us apart. The vets center at YSU brings us together — to see that the university is reaching out a hand of support.”

The facility will have staff and programs for vets to help with their life and campus assimilation.

Joe Mosca, dean of the Bitonte School of Health and Human Services, which oversees the facility, estimates there are about 300 former military personnel on campus now, and their services are met via an office for veterans affairs. The new center on Wick Avenue just up from the president’s home will house all needs for veterans.

“Vets can mingle and be people and build that lost camaraderie,” said Giunta. “That’s what a majority of the vets say they miss the most.”

Veterans with post-combat needs are not new to America — looking back on our past military actions and the returning soldiers.

Yet — to see it and live it firsthand, it’s tough for Giunta to understand.

“Fifty percent of my buddies I was with are doing fantastic — changing the world in numerous ways, and all for the better,” he said.

“The other 50 percent of my buddies are struggling to reacclimate to society, and what their new aspirations or dreams are. Some of them — sad to say — have lost their way.”

He did not anticipate 50 percent struggling. Why?

“These are the biggest, fastest, strongest, the most selfless people I have ever met in my life. I would have expected 98 percent success. That’s just not the case. War changes everyone. No one goes to combat and comes back the same person they were when they left. It puts some down in the dumps. There’s no magic pill to assess what ails these people. We’re losing them a little bit at a time.”

And that brings him back to the new YSU vets center, and the bigger opportunity.

“Service is paramount. It does not have to be camouflage and gun-toting service. It is giving of yourself. I’m a 5-9, 175-pound guy from Iowa. I’m as average as they come. My life has drastically changed by being around people trying to do right thing, regardless of what it was going to cost them.”

James Centofanti was a Marine Corps veteran and was proud to have served in World War II.

He would have been very pleased to participate in the center, says Mark Graham of Farmers National Bank, who facilitates the foundation.

James died in 2010, and Coralie died in 1999, and they left a lot to be given to the Valley.

In its first two years, their fund has given $1 million to Mosca’s Bitonte School at YSU; $700,000 to Kent State; $300,000 to Camp Fitch, $700,000 to a host of other groups — and $200,000 to a YSU Veterans Resource Center that opens Friday, which stunned a “sandwich artist” from Iowa who grew to stun America with his bravery.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.