The curtain on Dr. Judith Broder's new life opened at a tiny theater in Hollywood in 2004.

No one expected it—certainly not Broder, who was there solely to enjoy an evening of drama. Her future was set. A grandmother of five, she was winding down her long career as a psychiatrist. She and her husband were pondering trips to take in retirement.

Nothing about the obscure playhouse suggested a transforming experience. Sunset Gardner Stages is about as far off Broadway as one can get—a basement alcove of 80 seats tucked beneath a Thai restaurant. Few had heard of the play's producer, Sean Huze, then a member of the U.S. Marine Corps' 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, or the drama he had written and staged, a series of monologues titled "The Sand Storm: Stories from the Front."

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