Alocal veteran of the war in Iraq earned a standing ovation earlier this month when she paid a special visit to her former theater troupe.
“It feels like it all came full circle that night, with her on stage in a totally different capacity,” Kevin Gunther, a Helmetta resident and longtime member of the Main Street Theatre Co. in Parlin, said of his daughter.
Lorraine Gunther, 27, recently returned to the states after serving with the U.S. Army in Tikrit, Iraq.
Lorraine drove to New Jersey from Fort Campbell, Ky., arriving in Sayreville in time for the Dec. 13 performance of the troupe’s “Once an Angel” production, for which her father, Kevin, was director.
Lorraine presented the theater company with a flag that was flown in Iraq on the Sept. 11 anniversary, and she thanked the troupe members and its audience for the contributions and support of her Army unit, the 426th Field Artillery Regiment and 101st Airborne Assault Division, with whom she served in Iraq.
“It was amazing,” said Greg Louis, president of the Main Street Theatre Co.’s board of trustees. “I was so humbled and so proud to be a member of this theater when I found out she wanted to recognize us. She’s an amazing kid. Kevin and [his wife] Carolyn are justifiably very proud.”
Louis said the theater company donates a portion of its money from fundraising to charitable causes in the community. This year, in light of the service Lorraine Gunther had undertaken for her country, the members decided to donate phone cards and various necessities such as T-shirts and toiletries to her unit in Iraq.
The troops fighting this war could use a boost in morale, he noted, and being able to keep in touch with loved ones at home through phone cards is important to them.
“She got really emotional talking about how important it is for the troops overseas to know they have the support of friends and family back home,” Louis said.
The theater company’s policy is to donate to charity, despite the fact that ticket sales only give the Main Street Theatre Co. about 55 percent of what it needs to put on shows, Louis said. The group would not be able to function without the roughly 20,000 volunteer man-hours it receives per year to produce shows, since the performers and others involved in the plays are not compensated, he said.
“The vast majority of the man-hours are volunteer man-hours, and we still need to raise tens of thousands of dollars every year, just so we can lose money,” Louis said. “But we still feel it’s important to take a portion of our fundraising proceeds and give back to the community.”
Lorraine Gunther was recently promoted to captain and deployed to Fort Campbell. She is the first female commander in the history of her battalion in Kentucky, Louis said. She is unlikely to serve another tour of duty in Iraq. Instead, she is training troops to go to Afghanistan, which she described as an honor.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Soldiers are America’s greatest resource, so I consider it a huge honor.”
Lorraine joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program when she was a freshman at Temple University and became active in the Army upon graduating. She went on to serve in Iraq for a total of 26 months over the course of two deployments.
She said her experience in Iraq was intense at times.
“It wasn’t constant,” Lorraine said. “There were times when you can feel like you weren’t in Iraq. … I find it amazing how [soldiers] can continue to do the mission, beyond their personal thoughts or how they feel about being there.”
Lorraine has long been involved with the local theater company. She joined the troupe when she was 12 years old and performed with the group through high school and during summers when she was in college. She won a Perry Award for outstanding performance by a featured performer in a musical from the New Jersey Association of Community Theatres while she was on leave from the Army.
Her return to the stage this month to thank the troupe members made for an emotional night.
“She’s a special kid,” Louis said. “This is something she wanted to do, not just because of her dad. She wanted to let not just the theater company and the board know that she ap- preciated what we were doing for them, but also the patrons.”
Lorraine’s parents have been involved with the theater company as long as she has.
She had not seen her parents for 15 months prior to her stage appearance, and the extended Gunther family was on hand for the event.
Kevin, 52, is the treasurer of the troupe’s board of trustees. He noted that his daughter has earned two Bronze Stars, the most recent in recognition of meritorious service in the face of the enemy.
Lorraine Gunther is going to get married next year to Army Capt. Christopher Walsh, a Chicago native who is currently deployed in South Korea.
Lorraine said that any donations to troops deployed to Iraq are appreciated, particularly the letters they receive from home, and phone cards such as those the theater group sent to her unit in May.
“Probably the best gift we can receive is a phone call home to our loved ones,” she said.
Lorraine said she was grateful to the Main Street Theatre Co. for the donations, and she was especially appreciative of the emotional support its members gave to her parents while she was in Iraq. She felt compelled to show her and her unit’s appreciation to the theater through the flag presentation.
“It was an awesome experience,” Lorraine said. “The theater group has always been a home away from home for me and my family. …I would like to thank theMain Street players and the theater community as a whole. It is a unique family tie people don’t necessarily understand, and it’s been a great support system for me and my family.”