Deployment Health Clinical Center Presents Play about Warriors Coming Home

Actors Joseph Harrell, Sameerah Luqmann-Harris, Sheila Tapia, Haskell King and Brandon Jones take a bow after their performances in “ReEntry” on June 21, 2011.

By Robyn Mincher, DCoE Strategic Communications

“What was it like coming from the front lines of combat to the line at the grocery store?”

This was the first question KJ Sanchez asked Marines she interviewed when writing “ReEntry,” a play that explores the experiences of reintegration after deployment, through actual narratives of those who served, their family members and line leaders.

A one-hour excerpt from “ReEntry” was shown yesterday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington D.C., presented by Deployment Health Clinical Center (DHCC), a component center of Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE). The play resulted from the partnership between DHCC and National Naval Medical Center’s “Stages of Healing” program, which uses performance art to promote service member psychological health.

Sanchez, who co-wrote the play with Emily Ackerman, had five brothers serve in the Vietnam War. She interviewed a variety of Marines and family members, many stationed at Camp Pendleton, Ca.

“I talked to a military spouse about what it’s like to be a ‘gunny’s wife,’” said Sanchez. “I spoke to many who had all different levels of experience—such as a commanding officer on what he was telling the Marines before they leave. A captain spoke to me along with his younger brother, a lance corporal, who experienced psychological concerns after an IED explosion killed his best friend.”

After performances on bases, military centers and civilian theaters across the nation, Sanchez initiates a dialogue with audience members, where she is pleased to see the positive impact on those in the military.

“At one civilian theater, a staff sergeant brought his family to the play to show them what he wasn’t able to tell them, but that the characters could,” said Sanchez.

She was particularly touched when a line leader spoke after a show at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Va.

“A character calls mental health providers ‘wizards’ in the play, and after our performance, he asked for all the ‘wizards’ in the audience to stand up. He said if any service member had psychological concerns, to go see them and no one would think anything of it.”

At the showing yesterday, two DHCC psychological health care providers even stood by the exit doors, in case any audience members wanted to approach them afterward.

When casting for the play, Sanchez requests that those auditioning have some experience with the military, such as a military family member. For former drill instructor Joseph Harrell, playing the part of a commander speaking to military parents on reintegration hit closer to home.

“It’s a bit more personal. While I’m not a combat veteran, I have taught recruits things that are similar to what my character tells parents – you must explain the value of being in the military to make it understandable. Playing this character is about educating and bridging that cultural gap.”

DHCC provides additional materials on psychological health programs, such as the Specialized Care Program, Spouse/Significant Other Support Group and RESPECT-Mil.

“It remains a challenge to persuade those who need help to get it,” said Col. Charles Engel, DHCC director in his opening message. “Performances like this, in which fictional characters speak the words of real combat veterans, can be used to draw out similar feelings faced by those who have served downrange.”