130 Years of Family Serving Family: Manuel Santiago, Waco DC (with video)

One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 130 years of family serving family.

Who he is: Manuel Santiago, motor vehicle operator, Waco Distribution Center.

Years with the Exchange: 6

Military connections: Santiago, who retired from the Army as a staff sergeant after 24 years, was the first person in his family to join the military. “I went to college, but I didn’t have the right mindset for it, and I wanted to do something with my life,” he said. “I was looking for something to guide me. So I decided to join the Army.”

Memories of Exchange support: Santiago deployed three times to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, which was his last deployment. “Every time we went to a big base, our first stop was the PX,” he said. “It was our reward. It provided us with a good sense of home. At the time, I wanted sunflower seeds. They were something I always looked forward to. I don’t smoke, so they were my craving, and the PX provided them.”

Why he joined the Exchange: “One day, I was going to the main store at Fort Hood, and there was a display about hiring new associates,” he said. “One of the openings was for drivers. A friend of mine is an 18-wheeler driver, and I talked to him and he said he enjoyed it.”

Santiago went to a truck-driving school at Fort Hood to get his commercial driver’s license. He applied at the Exchange and was hired. “My first experience with 18-wheelers was the Exchange,” he said. “Luckily, I had a wonderful trainer, Billy Gillespie [a Vietnam Veteran who has since retired from the Exchange]. He was my mentor, and he taught me everything he knew about driving.

Why he likes being a truck driver:  “My military experience was always fast-paced, and I wanted something that would be slower-paced. It also lets me be in charge of myself, to be responsible for myself and my equipment. I spent a lot of years being responsible for people under me and I wanted to be just me.”

Favorite part of his route: “Right now, I go to Colorado, to Peterson Space Force Base. I love the scenery. The mountains in Colorado are beautiful, but I also go through parts of Oklahoma that are very nice.”

What ‘family serving family’ means to him: “When I was deployed, we always looked forward to going to the Exchange. It wasn’t just to stock up on goods, it was a piece of home. Now that I’m a driver for the Exchange, I’m bringing home to my battle buddies. Because every military member is family.”