Pride of Ulster County certificates were awarded to Daniel Santiago and Christopher Benson at the Town of Wawarsing meeting on June 16. Both are veterans who are committed to to helping fellow veterans with illnesses such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The certificates are distributed by the Ulster County Legislature in recognition of outstanding service.

In addition, Wawarsing Town Supervisor Terry Houck ran down brief descriptions of the service from each of these warriors. Christopher Benson served in the military from 1993 to 2002, and became a U.S. Army specialist in an engineer battalion. Since leaving the military, Benson has worked to bring attention to the needs of servicemembers damaged by the violence of military action, the damage that goes unseen but which is very much present in their lives. Daniel Santiago, who served tours of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq and South Korea, became a staff sergeant in the 10th Mountain Division and served from 2000 to 2010; he has become a dedicated volunteer working to spread awareness of PTSD and other ills affecting veterans.

In recent years, Santiago has conducted marches to bring attention to the crisis of veterans who lose hope and take their own lives every day. He began with a 22-mile march on Memorial Day in 2021, and repeated that this year. But on Veterans Day in 2021, he marched 22 hours, all the way from Port Jervis to Saugerties. Indeed, the Shawangunk Journal caught up with him in Napanoch and took some photos as he marched north alongside Route 209. That march covered 70 miles and received coverage in the press and on radio even as he completed it.

This year on Memorial Day, Santiago joined in the Kerhonkson Memorial Day ceremony honoring fallen soldiers. He laid the wreath alongside Kerhonkson Fire Department President Chris Depew and U.S. Marine veteran, Charles Dechon, a Town of Wawarsing Justice.

And so, on June 16, 2022, the Wawarsing Town Board announced that that day is to be known as “Danial Santiago and Christopher Benson Day.” Supervisor Houck presented certificates, both the Pride of Ulster County ones and those announcing their names attached to June 16, 2022.