Sinagra switches gears

Tony Sinagra with the inimitable Col. Fred Peck “back in the day.”

This space is replete with updates on our fellow Marine storytellers who have gone on to great success in careers related to the imagery and wordsmithing biz.

Sinagra continues to practice what he preaches, using PT as a key element in nourishing good health at every level.

But many, like Tony Sinagra, have found a fulfilling niche elsewhere.

“I have a passion for helping veterans get their lives turned around after sustaining injuries or wounds on active duty,” the 13 year CC and Desert Storm vet said.

Tony completed UCLA’s Substance Abuse Counseling program last March and now serves as a counselor at the Twin Town Treatment Center in Los Angeles.

Already immersed in warrior support in SoCal (Tony is President Emeritus of the Veterans Resident Council in West L.A.), he says he derives great joy from helping especially fellow Marines draw upon that that unique “something (that) soaks deep into our marrow … that gives us strength and grit to overcome physical and emotional adversity.”

Having himself undergone multiple eye, back, shoulder and abdominal surgeries, Tony knows “what it’s like to start back at Level Zero.

“Whether it’s a young Marine with traumatic brain injuries from an IED explosion … or a Vietnam veteran who’s been on the street for years,” he says, “I firmly believe the Good Lord has kept me around for a reason.”

Some of his current and former teammates think so, too.

Fellow CC Marty LeGere remembers arriving at his first duty station “a nervous, wet-behind-the-ears journalist when Tony took me under his wing and showed me what to expect as a reporter, writer and photographer.

“He lived by his own words,” LeGere say, “and he knew the difference between –- and the need for –- teamwork and individual contribution.”