Antonio Santiago Rodríguez

Antonio Santiago Rodríguez (born March 9, 1950), nicknamed Tony the Marine, is an American Marine veteran, writer, and military historian from New York City, focused mostly on the military history of Puerto Rico and its service members.

Santiago was recognized by the 23rd Senate of Puerto Rico for being "one of the main contributors of content related to Puerto Rico in the open online encyclopedia known as Wikipedia". The Senate also recognized him as one of the main writers on subjects which relate to Puerto Rico, and an important historian of the Puerto Rican military experience. According to Phoebe Ayers, member of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, this may be the first time that the English Wikipedia has been mentioned in a parliamentary or congressional resolution or a formal governmental award.

Early years Santiago was born in New York City, to Joaquín Santiago and Hilda Rodríguez-Mattei, both of Puerto Rican origin. Santiago graduated from high school in New York City and after being accepted to Columbia University, Santiago chose to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps instead.

Santiago also developed a close friendship with Leroy Reese An interview about Santiago's experience in the military, collectively made by author Greg Boudonek and Santiago himself, was published in the book Puertorriquenos Who Served With Guts, Glory, and Honor: Fighting to Defend a Nation Not Completely Their Own.

Upon finishing his tour with the U.S. Marine Corps in 1975, Santiago enrolled at the Interamerican University in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Business Administration in 1979. In Puerto Rico, he met Milagros and married her in 1971 and had three children together.

Military historian (L-R) President of the Puerto Rican Senate Kenneth McClintock, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Antonio, Milagros, Chelsea Clinton and former President of the U.S. Bill Clinton In 1990, Santiago moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife and children. At this point he reflected, "the only role models and heroes for Latino children were El Zorro, the Cisco Kid and Speedy Gonzales and," he said, "school textbooks failed to mention the many contributions that Latinos had made to the formation of our country [the United States]."

His early published work focused on military history, but later he expanded his research and documentation to include many other facets of the Puerto Rican life experience. Puerto Rico's Secretary of State, Kenneth D. McClintock, named Santiago "Puerto Rico's foremost military historian."

Santiago is among the people who were interviewed and who are featured in the documentary On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam; directed and produced by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Mylene Moreno. The documentary, which aired on PBS on September 22, 2015, examines the Latino experience during the Vietnam War. He was interviewed, together with fellow veteran Oscar Urrea, by PBS Horizante host Jose Cardenas and Univision newscaster Jorge Valenzuela, where he expressed his personal experiences, prior to the showing of the documentary.

Other works In addition to his military history research and writing, Santiago is also a free lance photojournalist for The Arizona Republic. He is also a member of the national steering committee of "Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal Alliance," which sought the Congressional Gold Medal for Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment, and serves in the "Latino Alliance Advisory Board."

In page 263 of the acknowledgments section of the book War Against All Puerto Ricans, Revolution and Terror in America's Colony author and former representative to the New York State Assembly Nelson Antonio Denis wrote the following:

Honors and awards

Accolades Cover of Wikimedia Foundation's 2012-2013 Annual Report. thumb On November 20, 2007, the Senate of Puerto Rico issued Resolution No. 3603 applauding Santiago's military legacy. On August 10, 2010, Puerto Rico's Secretary of State, Kenneth D. McClintock, named Santiago "Puerto Rico's foremost military historian." On August 28, 2012, the Latino Alliance named Santiago a "Champion of Character." In September 2015, Santiago (pictured in the middle) along with two other Marines, was featured on the cover of KQED Celebrates Latino Heritage Month magazine. In 2016, The Wikimedia Foundation revealed the most detailed featured articles in its site. According to the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia's parent company, the article "The Military history of Puerto Rico" created by Santiago, is ranked #4 among the featured articles in depth and high quality. Santiago is credited by the foundby ation as being the person who mostly has maintained the articles' length and quality. His name is among those who are honored and whose names are inscribed on the National Military Monument which is located in Washington, DC.

Milestones as a Wikipedian Facilitating reunion with family of Medal of Honor recipient David M. Gonzales and William Kouts. Recognition by Congressman Luis Fortuño of Santiago's contribution to preserving the history of contributions of Puerto Rican's to the U.S. military.