(San Benito News/Ray Quiroga)
By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com
Rangerville Elementary Pre-K student Reagan Guerra will not soon forget Christmas 2024, as she celebrated the surprise homecoming of one of her favorite people, her uncle, Mark Anthony Santillan, who is serving his country as a US Army soldier.
Santillan is currently stationed at Fort Moore in Georgia where he’s a 91M Bradley Maintainer (tank technician), where his main task is to upkeep the wiring system on the complicated war machines.
Santillan said that he wanted to be a soldier since early in his childhood and signed his military contract as soon as he was of age to legally do so. He went on to add that he’s enlisted to serve for four years but anticipates serving for eight, at which point, he’ll evaluate his career and decide if he’s willing to enlist for more.
“I’ve been wanting to be in the military since I was very small,” he recalled. “I’ve been learning about the military, and history class has taught me a lot. I realized that I really liked this stuff and wanted to join so it became my goal to do good, keep my grades up, and be the best that I can be so when that chance came, I was able to sign my contract,” Santillan explained.
Santillan’s father concurred, saying that the Private yearned to be a soldier early on.
“He would say, ‘Dad, I want to be a soldier.’ And I would say, ‘Whatever you want to do, mijo,’” said the senior Santillan, as he displayed a photo on his cell phone of young Santillan in a military uniform, adding that the Private visited his siblings’ college dorms and knew the direct-to-college route wasn’t for him.
“He would say, ‘I want to serve America. I want to be a solider,’ and he did,” the elder Santillan remarked.
Fast forward to last Thursday afternoon, Dec. 19. Guerra, along with her fellow schoolmates were eagerly anticipating the end of the school week, which also marked the commencement of Christmas break for San Benito CISD students.
Similar to his niece, the San Benito High School (SBHS) Class of 2024 graduate was a Rangerville Rattler and later attended Berta Cabaza Middle School, and VMA, prior to SBHS.
Santillan said he has a special bond with his niece, who was in tears at the sight of her uncle during the reunion coordinated by campus staff led by Principal Mary Julie Aguilera, and the Santillan’s family, including his sister and mother.
For little Reagan, the walk to the campus cafeteria with her class marked the start of a typical school rally until SBCISD Public Relations Director Luis Gonzales announced the special surprise, which brought many in the room to tears, especially Reagan.
“It was kind of hard for us to keep all this hush, hush from her because we wanted to tell her that he was coming, so we ended up asking the school if we can do it here to surprise her,” said Irma Santillan, Reagan’s grandmother (Mark Anthony’s mother).
Santillan said that he’ll spend his relatively short holiday leave with family, and friends, and returns to active duty on Jan. 3.
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