Wall of Remembrance
Bert Bakey
Timothy M. Bell, Jr.
Eric J. Bernholtz
Sparky Berthiaume
Danny Bonfiglio
Kim Bowerman
James Victor Breidenbach
Malcoma Brown-Ekeogu
Zachary Brown
Robert (Bob) Burke
Hoyt Centers
Michael J. Cifuentes
Peter J. Coughlin
Wesley G. Davids
Fred Davis
Dustin A. Derga
Christopher J. Dyer
Robert Eastman
Kenneth Ekeogu
Dr. Laurie P. Elwell
Nicholas B. Erdy
Grant B. Fraser
Cliff Fluck
Jonathan W. Grant
Jourdan L. Grez
Sean Grinley
Ernest Harrison
Elmer Hasse
Dr. Kate Hendricks-Thomas
Eric Heyward
Harold Horntveit
John Hudson
Kristy Jackson
Sheila Marie Johnson
Donna Quinn Kaufman
Robert Kelly
Sharon Kent
Hubert Bailey Kincheon
David Kenneth J. Kreuter
Gene Long
Wallace Clifford Magathan, Jr
Arthur Mastrapa
Bill Melson
Kenneth Eugene Melson
Rodney Murray
Charles OBanion
James Edwin Oakley
Gary Ostrom
Bob Pahl
Jack Pitzer
Robert J. Pohlmann
Lester A. Probst
Mint Ralston
Aaron H. Reed
John Paul Roberts
Donna Mary Roberts
Christopher Rogers
Sonya Renee McClain Salazar
Edward A. Schroeder II
Grandpa Sidney
Bud Sobin
Carroll Wayne Speights
Grant Robert Squire
Delbert Slaugh
Timothy Taylor
Demetrius Walker
Ensign Robert Waun
Anton White
Ron White
William B. Wightman
David N. Wimberg
Andre L. Williams
Clinton Wyatt
Dick Yeilding
Grief Dialogues Memorial day was featured in the Open to Hope Podcast and Behind the Misson: PsychArmor
Grief Dialogues: Memorial Day is a free, three-hour immersive event honoring our military and Veteran communities, especially those affected by the Los Angeles fires. Join us on May 17, 2025, at 1 p.m. at the Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA for reflection, storytelling, and collective healing.
Sponsorship funds not used for production will be donated to an organization that supports to Veterans and families impacted by the LA wildfires. Attendees will also have the opportunity to contribute to the foundation during the event.
SPECIAL GUEST:
Presented by:
Elizabeth Coplan (Grief Dialogues), Leilani Squire (Returning Soldiers Speak), & Qwynn Galloway-Salazar (In Their Honor). Grief Dialogues and Returning Soldiers Speak are 501c3 designated and In Their Honor is an LLC. Elizabeth and Leilani were born and raised in military families. Qwynn, also known as Dr. Q, is a Veteran herself and the spouse of a combat Veteran.
Co-Creators
Leilani Squire is the daughter of LTJG Grant Robert Squire, who served thirty years in the US Navy, and was raised in the military. She’s CEO of the non-profit Returning Soldiers Speak, an award-winning playwright, published writer, certified creativity coach, and member of EST/LA, Playwrights Unit, The Dramatist Guild, and alumna of Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive and Dramatist Guild Institute.
Dr. Qwynn Galloway-Salazar (Doc Q), Founder/CEO of In Their Honor—and Mistress of Ceremonies—is an Army Veteran, End-of-Life Doula Educator, and Storyteller. As PsychArmor’s SVP, she expands support for military-connected communities. Honored as a 2024 USA TODAY Woman of the Year, she also serves on NHPCO’s End-of-Life Doula Council.
Elizabeth Coplan, playwright and founder of Grief Dialogues, uses theater to spark conversations about loss and healing. Inspired by personal grief and her father’s service as a U.S. Air Force veteran, she is one of the three co-creators of Grief Dialogues: Memorial Day. Her work explores death, dying, and bereavement, fostering dialogue and connection through storytelling and performance.
Director
actors
Dani Davis is an Emmy-winning writer, Tony-nominated Broadway producer, and Helen Hayes Award recipient. Her Broadway and national tour credits include The Lonesome West, Little Women, Billy Elliot, The Wedding Singer, Flashdance, and Shrek the Musical. She wrote and directed Handel’s Messiah Rocks (PBS/Sony Classical), earning seven Emmy nominations and one win.
Dani co-created and executive produced Girl Starter (Discovery/Al Roker Productions) and has directed acclaimed regional productions including Mamma Mia, The Full Monty, and Grief Dialogues: The Experience. Through her company, EveryDay Dreams, she produces multimedia projects for LinkedIn, Sounds True, and WBEC. A Duke alum and NYC-based mom of two, she champions art for social change. www.thedanidavis.com
Denah Angel is first and foremost an artist and puts her imagination and creativity into everything she does. She is an actress, comedian, writer, singer and producer whose work has been featured across film, television, digital and stage. Denah is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Denah holds a degree in theater from Marymount Manhattan College. She feels all the gratitude in her capacity for her beautiful family and is truly thankful for her friends and collaborators.
A native of Culver City, Anthony Lorenzo Garcia is a devoted actor, writer, and producer for stage and film. He appeared as Satan in Stephen Adly Gurguis’s The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2024 and Across Time: Love and Humanity During War, produced by ArtsUP! LA and Returning Soldiers Speak. Most recently, he was featured at Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA’s True Story.
Jeffrey Doornbos will recreate his role from the original production Grief Dialogues: The Experience performed in New York October 2024. Among others: Film/Tv – “The Forever Purge”, “A Thousand Miles Behind”, “From The Head”, “Dave”, “9-1-1: Lone Star”, “Famous In Love”, “Rake”, “Hot In Cleveland”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Private Practice”, the “Law & Order” universe. Theatre – a veteran of “Blue Man Group”, Berkshire Theatre Group, O’Neill Theatre Center, Malibu Stage. Jeffrey is especially honored to be a part of this event.
Contributors
We are thrilled to announce Benjamin Fortier the winner of the playwriting competition for his monologue, Michael and the Saints. Set in a quaint tavern, Michael hangs with his Marine buddies at a small reunion. Michael reflects on his experiences in Iraq and what it means to serve and to carry the wounds of war.
Benjamin Fortier grew up in Northern Rhode Island. He enlisted the Marine Corps Reserve and within 10 days of high school graduation, he was standing on the yellow footprints at Parris Island. He served as an infantry team member with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines in Fallujah, Iraq in 2006. His latest book, Phantoms (published in 2023 by Dead Reckoning Collective) was awarded the Robert A. Gannon award for poetry dealing with Marine Corps life. His short play, The Path at Belleau Wood, was a vignette of the full-length play Across Time, produced by Returning Soldiers Speak and ArtsUp! LA. He is currently serving as the vice president of the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Association.
“I am deeply honored to be a part of The Grief Dialogues: Memorial Day to share the meaning of this special day and why it was established. Though today’s society tends to absorb the sacrifice of our nation’s military members as yet another news item, I hope this presentation will help people to understand that each name is a person with a family, history and people who love them. These sacrifices are never made in vain and deserve all the honor and dignity that we can give them.”
Gwyn LaRee is a Desert Storm era Marine Corps Veteran with multiple disabilities from her time in service. A “closet” writer for most of her life, Gwyn has begun to share her stories and experiences with her work with the “Returning Soldiers Speak” program. Her initial symptoms from the Persian Gulf Syndrome placed her in a wheelchair for two years before she began to regain her mobility with the help of her service dog, Simba, from America’s VetDogs. Now working as a professional actor when she is not managing her small alpaca ranch in SW Washington state, Gwyn is always on the lookout for new Veteran connections, new stories to tell and new ways to integrate the Veteran and civilian communities.
