For two decades, military children and family members watched as their loved ones trained and deployed in support of the global war on terror. In doing so, they shouldered a unique burden that few discuss and that too often, is misunderstood or ignored by the American public.
These young people watched their families struggle and fail as they navigated the difficult realities of military service—the constant moves, being misunderstood by their communities, and like service members, the mental health challenges that come from a life in uniform.
But for more than 7,000 families, the loved one they sent to war came home in a flag-draped coffin. Others lost their parents and family members to tragedies like suicide, illness, and training accidents. Now, as young adults contributing to our democracy, these men and women possess a deep understanding of the human impact of military service and The War Horse team is honored to help them share their stories of resilience and sacrifice.
Meet the Fellows
Caehlen Austin
Caehlen Austin lives in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with her active-duty husband, young son, and their two dogs. Her father, Staff Sgt. Kevin Casey Roberts, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2008. She volunteers with an organization called Gold Star Gamers, which helps Gold Star children with the ability to access ways to use video games to handle their grief. She has always enjoyed writing, mainly poetry or short stories. In her free time, you can find her reading, journaling, or enjoying time with family and friends. Caehlen is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Cierra Becker
Cierra Becker was 7 when her father, Army Staff Sgt. Shane Becker, was killed in Iraq in 2007. She lives with her mom and sister near Houston, Texas, and works her dream job as a firefighter/EMT for Cy-Fair Fire Department. She enjoys geocaching, working out, quad skating, and concept art creation. She is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Camille Clark
Camille Clark attends SUNY Brockport, studying art with a concentration in graphic design. She is also double-majoring in media production and kinesiology. Her future goals are to become an art professor, or possibly to work in advertising. She currently works for her mom on their family’s flower farm in Bloomfield, New York. She is also the social media director for the Canandaigua farmers market pages. Her dad joined the Army when she was 4 years old, and passed in Afghanistan in 2012 when she was only 9 years old. She hopes to inspire people with kindness and compassion as her dad once did. Camille is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Bailey Donahue
Bailey Donahue works in communications at Blue Zones Health, where she helps shape meaningful stories and resources that inspire people to live longer. A 2023 War Horse fellow, Bailey is passionate about honoring stories that matter. She studied public health and holds a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Her father, Army Maj. Michael Donahue, was killed in action on Sept. 16, 2014. She describes him as “a hero who was loved deeply and widely.”
Boston Gilbert
Boston Gilbert is the eldest son of Maj. Troy “Trojan” Gilbert, who was killed in action near Taji, Iraq, in November 2006 while providing close air support to a Delta Force unit. Boston Gilbert is happily married to his wife, Eliana, and works for the military nonprofit No Greater Sacrifice. He is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Cassidy La Bouff
Cassidy La Bouff is the daughter of U.S. Army Maj. Douglas A. La Bouff, who was killed in Iraq in 2006. She graduated from Colorado State University in 2021 with a degree in journalism and media communication and a minor in legal studies. La Bouff is passionate about supporting veterans, active-duty military, and their families. She supports nonprofits that work directly with Gold Star children and surviving families, as well as veteran mental health. She is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Angel Munoz
Angel Munoz, an Army veteran who served during peacetime in the late 1990s, lives in Midland, Texas, where she was born and raised. She is the mother of three young men, whom she raised with the help of her mother and brothers. Her brothers’ deaths compelled Angel to express her grief and love through writing. Munoz’s dream is to share her family’s story of loss, love, sacrifice, and resilience with the world in hopes of inspiring others to reach out. She is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Maria Rossi
Maria Rossi lives in Dahlonega, Georgia, with her husband, an active-duty soldier, and their daughter, Kylie, along with their two dogs. Rossi has always had a passion for writing, but it became an outlet for her after the death of her father, Army Maj. Gen. John Rossi, in 2016. John Rossi cared deeply for his soldiers and their families, and Maria hopes to carry on that legacy by working with organizations that support those who have served. She is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Danielle Rushing
Danielle Rushing is a 2023 graduate of The War Horse’s Writing Seminar for Post-9/11 Gold Star Children and Siblings. Her early love of reading turned into a love of writing, which became a form of therapy after the death of her brother, Josh, to suicide in 2013 and helped her cope with the sudden and traumatic loss. She lives in Wyoming with her husband and is a proud dog mom.
Cheyenne Smith
Cheyenne Smith’s father died in December 2013 during a tour in Afghanistan when she was 14 years old. These days, Smith is an aspiring writer and recent survivor of the harrowing experience that is getting a master’s degree, which she received from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She lives near Houston and loves to travel and try new things, especially food. She is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Chloe Wright
Chloe Wright lives and teaches in private elementary education in Longview, Texas. She studied music education at East Texas Baptist University. Her counseling practice will be with military families and service members upon graduating with a master’s in clinical mental health counseling from East Texas Baptist University. Her passion is connecting to resources amid deployment, retirement, grief, and trauma. She would like to use music and art therapies. Her interests and hobbies are reading, writing, music, American history, museums, and mentoring kids and youth who lost a sibling or parent in military service. Wright is a peer mentor with Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and serves as a young adult mentor with A Soldier’s Child Foundation. Wright’s father, a five combat-tour veteran to the Middle East, passed during her sophomore year of college. She felt proud of continuing school without taking any semesters off and beating the odds against it. She did the legwork of discovering scholarships to meet semester bills. Wright wants to bridge the gap for families and service members enduring disenfranchised grief in honor of her father and mother. She is a 2023 War Horse fellow.
Meet the Mentors
The War Horse is proud to continue the tradition of bringing award-winning journalists, world-class editors, and industry professionals together to help mentor the next generation of military writers. While in session at the in-person seminar event, fellows will have access to instruction, mentorship, and support from these generous individuals intent on sharing their time and talent with our cohort.
David Chrisinger
Director of Writing Seminars
David Chrisinger is the director of writing seminars at The War Horse. To date, he has led five cohorts of veterans and military spouses to share their stories of service and resilience. He is also the executive director of the Harris Writing Workshop at the University of Chicago. Before joining Harris, David worked at the U.S. Government Accountability Office as a senior communications specialist. He is an award-winning author of many books, including The Soldier’s Truth, a forthcoming definitive biography of Ernie Pyle, America’s most famed combat correspondent. David is a graduate of the University of Chicago’s MA Program in the Social Sciences and the recipient of the 2022 George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.
David Finkel
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist
David Finkel is a journalist and author who writes about the human effects of war and whose honors include a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant. His book “The Good Soldiers” a bestselling account of a U.S. infantry battalion during the Iraq War “surge,” received multiple awards and was named by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2009. A sequel, “Thank You For Your Service,” chronicled the challenges faced by American soldiers and their families in war’s aftermath and was the basis for a feature-length movie produced by DreamWorks Pictures and released by Universal Pictures in 2017. A graduate of the University of Florida, Finkel has been a reporter and editor for The Washington Post since 1990.
Nina Rodríguez-Marty
Associate Editor
Nina Rodríguez-Marty joined Sentinel, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in 2019. She is most drawn to prescriptive and idea-driven nonfiction that speaks at the crossroads of work and life, in categories like business, self-help, behavioral science, entrepreneurship, and peak performance. She’s also fascinated by writers who can turn mainstream convention on its head with well-earned arguments or moving narratives. Among her authors are host of the “Rationally Speaking” podcast Julia Galef, leading sales expert Matthew Dixon, Silicon Valley user researcher Ximena Vengoechea, activist Elizabeth McLaughlin, former U.S. Air Force Officer D.J. Vanas, and New York University professor Tessa West.
Chandler Wickers
Associate Agent
Chandler Wickers joined Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency in 2021 after an early career working in tech. She graduated from Washington and Lee University, where she played Division III soccer and earned a degree in English and film, then going on to complete the Columbia University Publishing Course. She is interested in representing adult fiction and nonfiction. In fiction, she is drawn to voice-driven literary fiction with a strong sense of place and novels featuring coming-of-age stories, family sagas, and dark humor. In nonfiction, she is interested in journalism that flows like a good novel, comprehensive histories, war reporting, and adventure stories. As a San Francisco native and Brooklyn transplant, she is keen on stories that intersect tech and pop culture, and narratives that demystify a subculture or reveal an underbelly. When she’s not reading, you can find her outside keeping pace with her running club, or in a theater mixing popcorn with peanut M&M’s.
Dr. Pamela Wall
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and Adjunct Professor
Pamela Wall, Ph.D., is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Science in nursing, Rush University with a post master’s certificate as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and from the University of Pennsylvania with a PhD.
Dr. Wall is a 20-year veteran of the United States Navy Nurse corps where she served in different nursing roles to include inpatient and outpatient units and deployed and humanitarian missions. She was the first female nurse to be appointed as the division psychiatrist at 2nd Marine Division and worked as an advisor for mental health to the commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, the chief nursing officer, and the surgeon general of the Navy.
Kelly McHugh-Stewart
Gold Star Daughter, Writer, Editor, and Public Speaker
Kelly McHugh-Stewart is a writer, editor, and digital engagement specialist based out of New York City. Her reporting and personal essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, CNN Opinion, and Sports Illustrated, among others. She’s also shared her story on national television with CNN, ABC News, and ESPN.
Along with her writing and speaking, she is actively involved with numerous Veteran Service Organizations and has worked alongside leadership at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, Children of Fallen Patriots, Freedom Alliance, and VoteVets.
Kelly received her MFA in creative writing from The New School and holds a B.A. in journalism and mass communications from Kansas State University. She currently works as a senior writer and strategist at New York University.
