ABMF Fellows Program
The ABMF Fellows Program gives young adults, ages 18–24, a firsthand look at our mission: to Remember & Honor the American men and women who served and died so that others may live in freedom.
What Fellows do
The program varies from year to year. It generally includes an all-expenses-paid trip to American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) cemeteries and memorials overseas.
It is a life-changing experience and a unique opportunity for learning, networking and personal growth.
Travel
Visit ABMC cemeteries and memorials overseas on an all-expenses-paid trip.
Learn
Take part in seminars with military experts and historians, cultural events, and meetings with veterans and business, community and political leaders.
Share
Serve as a volunteer ambassador for ABMF the following year: speak to groups about your experience, spread the word about our mission, and share on social media what it means not to take the rights and privilege of living in liberty for granted.
Applications for the 2027 Fellows Program
We anticipate that applications for the 2027 program will open in February. Get your passport ready and watch this space for details.
New York City
France
Daniels Scholars Lane David Allen, Caleb Lee Deines and Nicholas James Ferraro were the 2026 ABMF Fellows.
Their three-week trip included an internship with ABMC in Washington, D.C., and assisting with the Memorial Day Commemoration at the East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, New York City. They then traveled to France for an extensive visit that included the Normandy, Brittany, Oise-Aisne, Château-Thierry, Suresnes and Lafayette Escadrille American cemeteries and memorials, along with numerous cultural sites and events.
Along the way, the Fellows came to internalize why living as a free people must never be taken for granted.
- Lane AllenHistory, University of Montana, Missoula
- Caleb DeinesMechanical Engineering, Dordt University, Sioux Center, Iowa
- Nic FerraroMechanical Engineering, Western Colorado University, Gunnison
The 2026 ABMF Fellows Program was funded by a grant from the Daniels Fund. We are grateful for their support.
Washington, D.C.
The Fellows worked at ABMC headquarters and toured Capitol Hill with the office of Congressman Jeff Hurd (CO-3). They met with former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and top executives at the Boeing Company, toured the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, walked the National Mall with Lt. Commander Daniel Halsig, JAG, USCG, visited George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and spent several days working at the National Archives. The week was capped by a Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets baseball game.
New York City
The Fellows assisted ABMF Chief Development Officer Frank Mascia with the ABMC Memorial Day Commemoration at the East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, where they met WWII veteran Arthur Grabiner, USN. The ceremony was followed by a reception at Fraunces Tavern, America’s oldest and a favorite of George Washington and his most trusted advisors. A private tour of the USS Intrepid featured the heroics of Bill Daniels and how he saved his fellow shipmates during a fateful attack in WWII.
France
Escorted by ABMF Director of Operations Chloe Appert, with an assist by Jake Schroeder, the Fellows visited iconic D-Day sites: Sainte-Mère-Église, the Normandy American Cemetery, Brittany American Cemetery, Omaha Beach and the WWII Museum. They saw priceless WWI and WWII artifacts at Château-Thierry and visited Suresnes American Cemetery and the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial. Cultural visits included Mont-Saint-Michel, the Palace of Versailles, a walk through Paris’s historic American sites led by American Legion Paris Post 1 Commander Bryan Schell, the French military museum at Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, and a private dinner with ABMF founding board members John Crawford and Alexander Blumrosen.
A detour to Oise-Aisne
One of the most memorable moments came from a change to the original itinerary. We learned that Caleb Deines’s great-uncle, Corporal David W. Neary, E Company, 18th Infantry, is buried at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery. Neary served on the front lines in “No Man’s Land” with General John Pershing and the first American troops sent to France.
We arranged a wreath-laying ceremony. Superintendent Charley Diaz and his staff made an extra effort to give the Fellows a tour and tell them about Cpl. Neary and the turning-point battles where he fought and died. Cpl. Neary was 18 when he died; Caleb was 20. The intimacy of the event left a lasting impression on the Fellows.
Italy
France
Three Daniels Scholars and three ROTC cadets of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps were embedded at three ABMC sites for two weeks over Memorial Day.
The 2025 Fellows Program was funded by a grant courtesy of the Daniels Fund.
Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium
“Nothing can compare to seeing it… it was invaluable… you’d be surprised how much the Green Team knows about the stories of those buried there.”
“I was a little worried when I learned I was going to be paired with a civilian. But I think being paired with Kylan was best.”
Dakota Gray
“It wasn’t just the local community; it was people from all over that had come together to celebrate the United States and Belgium in WWII.”
“Mr. Claud, the superintendent at Ardennes, was in the Marines and Dakota is in the Marines… to talk with Dakota about his experiences gave me a good opportunity to learn and understand more about the military, because my family doesn’t have any background in that.”
Kylan Olson
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Italy
“For me personally, it was like a dream come true… to study history and be around people who love history as much as I do.”
“The people there care so much about the mission… not just what they did, but why they did it.”
Dillon Terpening
“Honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms as Americans has truly become a staple in my values as a citizen. I look forward to sharing my experience and the knowledge I accrued with everyone around me.”
Brycen Schmidt
Suresnes American Cemetery and Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, France
“I got to learn so much about ABMC and ABMF, but more importantly, I learned not what you do but why you do it… The biggest surprise was the bond between French and Americans. There were no politics; they were just united under remembering those who fought.”
Nathan Strickland
“Memory isn’t just preserved in a physical work. It is preserved through acts of care. Raising flags, cleaning stones and maintaining the grounds may seem simple, but they are daily acts of reverence for the lives lived and lost around the world.”
Judy Ojewia
USAF ROTC Cadets Anaiya Harris and Catherine Prince were embedded for two weeks over the Memorial Day commemorations at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
At the time, Cadet Harris was a junior at Brigham Young University studying political science with an emphasis in international strategy and diplomacy. Cadet Prince was in her fourth year at Michigan Technological University studying Mechanical Engineering, planning a career with the U.S. Air Force as a developmental engineer. Her grandfather was a veteran of WWII.
Their time in the Netherlands included historical research, working with the Visitor Center staff, cleaning headstones, working with the Green Team (landscaping crew), taking part in Next of Kin visits and the Memorial Day ceremony, meeting cemetery and community leaders, spending time with U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Shefali Razdan Duggal, and meeting veterans of WWII.
“Thank you, Arnold Air Society, ABMC and ABMF! And special thanks to the Netherlands team!”
Anaiya Harris and Catherine Prince
USAF ROTC Cadets John Burke and Lauren Bonetti were embedded for two weeks with ABMC at the Normandy, Suresnes and Lafayette Escadrille American cemeteries in France over the 2023 Memorial Day Commemoration.
At the time, Bonetti was in graduate studies at MIT Lincoln Laboratory with the Space Force, focusing on electromagnetic materials. Burke was studying at the University of Pittsburgh (AS400: national security affairs and preparation for active duty). Both were selected through the Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings.
“When I first joined ROTC, it was a lot about the academic and financial opportunities. But after going to Normandy and seeing the headstones of all the men and women who died… it truly changed how I view being in the military, and it really emphasized the importance of the mission. I am very grateful.”
Lauren Bonetti
“Two things that really stood out to me were Next of Kin visits and the Operation Benjamin headstone exchange. This young dude from Chicago had come all the way to France to visit the place where his relative was buried… to witness it was really something special. It’s something I will never forget.”
John Burke
We are grateful to the Daniels Fund, whose grants made possible the 2025 and 2026 Fellows Programs. We are indebted to Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Dan Woodward, USAF, the progenitor of the Fellows Program, for his support, and to the Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings for their grants in 2023 and 2024.