RJ Bonds was drafted into the army where he served for 2 years, of which 14 months were served in Vietnam from 1968-1969. He was in the 104th Artillery Battery. R.J. was an actor for 25 years. He also performed in Tracers at the Public Theater in NYC, the Royal Court in London, as well as in Los Angeles. He met Rick in N.Y.

RICK GALLAVAN

Rick Gallavan is a Vietnam Veteran who spent a year in country from 1967 – 1968. He was an 11 Bravo Infantryman until he was pulled out of Infantry to work in headquarters, where he ended up working in G5 psychological warfare. Rick was an original cast member and co-writer of the play Tracers, which recounts the story of eight veteran's tour of duty in Vietnam at the height of that disastrous conflict through a series of vignettes and soliloquies written (and first performed) by men who were there.

SEMA OLSON

Sema Olson stayed in Walter Reed hospital for a year and a half looking after her son Cpl. Bobby T. Rosendahl. Private Rosendahl served in Iraq for 5 1⁄2 months when his Stryker vehicle drove over an IED (improvised explosive device). During the time she cared for her son, she lost her car, her home and her job. Sema is a co-founder and executive staff member of the U.S. Welcome Home Foundation, an organization dedicated “to assisting members or veterans of the US Armed Forces and their families with the transition from combat deployment to active and useful lives in their communities”; it “provides a network of support, treatment, education and motivation to enable and empower individuals and their families to achieve fulfilling and productive futures within their communities”

MICHAEL J. WAGNER, PhD

Michael J Wagner, PhD is a retired Colonel from the US Army Medical Service Corps. He was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center during the Vietnam Conflict receiving wounded from Vietnam. More recently, he worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center assisting families attending their wounded loved ones from Iraq and Afghanistan. He saw 6,000 wounded return from Iraq and Afghanistan and worked with over 3,000 families during his three years at Walter Reed. From these experiences and his education and experiences, Dr. Wagner founded the United States Welcome Home Foundation to assist returning combat veterans reintegrate into their families and communities after their combat duties. Dr. Wagner is the Director of the Warrior Care Initiative at the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center focused on attending to the ‘Hidden Wounds of War,’ the combat related mental health problems. Through his work in the foundation and at the university, he is intent on doing all that can be done to assist veterans living a productive and meaningful life. His work is about the warriors, not the war.

DR. JUDITH BRODER

Judith T. Broder, MD is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Studio City, CA. She is the founder and director of The Soldiers Project and a training and supervising analyst at LAISPS. She believes in the power of the arts to communicate and move people to action.