By Grace Allen

After three military friends died by suicide in one month, David Campisano knew he had to do something. In April of 2020, the Army veteran and Millis resident started 22Mohawks, a non-profit committed to raising awareness around veteran suicide. 

Campisano served his country from 2001 to 2016 and, after his honorable discharge, he returned home and slipped back into civilian life. He was one of the lucky ones. Since the global War on Terror began in 2001, over 60,000 American soldiers have died in combat. While that number is stunning enough, it is eclipsed by the number of military veterans who have died by suicide in the same timeframe. By some accounts, it is close to 120,000. On average, 22 veterans die by suicide each day.

A recipient of the Pups for Vets program with Campisano, Charlie Young (rear), and Patrick Martin. Young and Martin of Professional Canine Services provide life-time training for the dogs. Photo courtesy of 22Mohawks.

 

Coyne and Campisano, along with Allyson Shean, right, the Pups for Vets program’s Lead Ambassador, with a pup recipient.  Photo courtesy of 22Mohawks.

“Veterans are trained not to ask for help. They’re trained to suppress emotions and not show weakness because there’s this stigma,” said Campisano. “You’re in the military, you get hurt and you’re in pain but you’re not going to tell anyone and you drive on. And that actually works very well when you’re in the military. But when you get out, that doesn’t work anymore. Some of the most A-type, hard-charging people I know took their own lives.”

The name, 22Mohawks combines “22” for the average number of veterans who die by suicide each day and the Mohawk-style haircut. 

According to www.22mohawks.com, “the mohawk represents the outlier – the person who is not afraid to go against the grain, rise up for what they believe in, and above all, stand tall in the face of adversity. Veterans and those who support them embody the mohawk. When you get a mohawk in support of veterans, you become a part of a movement that is greater than oneself.”

22Mohawks started with a few events to gather veterans together in an effort to provide support and create community over shared experiences. But after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Campisano was inundated with calls from veterans having  difficulty processing the end of the war. He decided to create a website to get more visibility for the organization and also to announce that he would help veterans get emotional support dogs as quickly as possible. There is a two-year waiting list for a dog through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“The website went up and within two days we got a phone call from a veteran asking for a dog,” recounted Campisano. “He was in bad shape, so I went to the local shelter, bought a dog, and drove it to his house.”

That veteran was Michael McGee. 

“22Mohawks sprang into action after I reached out to them,” said McGee, a Marine Corps veteran now living on Cape Cod. “The days were getting harder and harder to fight through, but because of their intervention, today I feel confident in my ability to keep fighting on. They helped me understand that it’s okay to reach out for help and their generosity and selflessness has given me a new outlook on life.”

22Mohawks partners with Professional Canine Services in Middleboro to provide free life-time training for the dogs, which Campisano gets from area shelters. Since September of 2021, 22Mohawks has placed on average one dog a week with veterans through its Pups for Vets program. If a dog is available, any vet that needs one will get it at no cost within 24 hours. (There can be up to a three-week wait if dogs are not available.) Veterans are responsible for the dog’s medical bills and food, although 22Mohawks provides the first week of food for free.

Campisano and his team are working with local VA offices to become the first point of contact for veterans returning home after a tour of duty. Their goal is to provide support for vets in any way possible, although suicide awareness and prevention remains the organization’s primary focus.

Rachel El Massih, the Public Relations Director for 22Mohawks, said Campisano is always taking phone calls from veterans he does not know, and often they simply want someone to talk to who understands what they are going through.

“Dave doesn’t have a clinical background,” said El Massih. “He’s just a fellow veteran and I think that makes a difference for people. And that’s what we want veterans to know, that we’re just a phone call away, providing peer-to-peer support.”

22Mohawks will also help veterans navigate the mental health system, if they want or need more support than the organization can provide. Vets are often referred to a direct contact at Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital program dedicated to healing the invisible wounds of war on service members and veterans of all wars. There is no cost for services provided by Home Base.

There is also no cost for the yearly events 22Mohawks holds for veterans, which include a NASCAR racing experience, a tandem parachute jump, and a firearm safety certification course. Veterans are chosen by lottery to attend. 

The goal of the veteran-focused events, according to Stacey Coyne, 22Mohawks’ CEO, is to create social connections and camaraderie while providing an outlet for veterans and their families to express themselves.

“We are family-based and we encourage veterans to bring their spouses and children. Because it’s not just about the veteran. The spouse may not understand what the vet is going through and maybe these events will help them see the challenges their spouse is facing,” Coyne said. 

22Mohawks also holds fundraisers open to the public with the proceeds going towards the organization’s Pups for Vets program, as well as the yearly veteran-focused events. Upcoming fundraisers include an open skate night on March 26 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, as well as a trivia night on April 8 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Norwood Elks.

Campisano and his senior leadership at 22Mohawks hail from Millis, Franklin, Walpole, Norwood, and Wrentham.  And while the organization is currently Massachusetts-based, Campisano will try to help any veteran who needs support. 

“We want veterans to know that there’s a group of people that can be there for them for anything,” he said. “If they’re having a bad day, they can call us and we’ll have a conversation and maybe they’ll realize it’s not actually a weakness to reach out. We all get sad and we all get depressed. So let’s talk, because we don’t want anyone else dying by their own hand.”

To contact 22Mohawks, call 1-617-680-9852 or 1-781-251-9212. Campisano can also be reached via email: [email protected]. 

Visit the group’s website at https://22mohawks.com for more information about the organization, including upcoming fundraisers and events for veterans, or to make a donation. Their online shop has gear available for purchase to help raise awareness about the organization and veteran suicide. 

Theresa Knapp contributed to this story.