Born Bradley Edward Manning in 1987 in Crescent, Oklahoma, she was the second child of Susan Fox, originally from Wales, and Brian Manning, an American. Brian had joined the United States Navy in 1974 at the age of 19, and served for five years as an intelligence analyst. Brian met Susan in a local Woolworths while stationed in Wales at Cawdor Barracks. Manning's sister was born in 1976. The couple returned to the United States in 1979, moving first to California, then to a two-story house outside Crescent, with an above-ground swimming pool and 5 acres (2 hectares) of land where they kept pigs and chickens.[14] <\/p>\n
Manning's sister Casey, 11 years her senior, told the court-martial that both their parents were alcoholics, and that their mother had drunk continually while pregnant. Captain David Moulton, a Navy psychiatrist, told the court that Manning's facial features showed signs of fetal alcohol syndrome.[15] Casey became Manning's principal caregiver, waking at night to make the baby a bottle. The court heard that Manning was fed only milk and baby food until the age of two. As an adult she reached 5ft 2in (1.57m) and weighed around 105 pounds (47.6kg).[16] <\/p>\n
Manning's father took a job as an information technology (IT) manager for a rental car agency, which meant he had to travel. The family lived several miles out of town and Manning's mother was unable to drive. She spent her days drinking, while Manning was left largely to fend for herself, playing with Legos or on the computer. Brian would stock up on food before his trips, and leave pre-signed checks that Casey mailed to pay the bills. A neighbor said that whenever Manning's elementary school went on field trips, she would give her own son extra food or money so he could make sure Manning had something to eat. Friends and neighbors considered the Mannings a troubled family.[17] <\/p>\n
Those who knew Manning said that even as a child, she always had a mind of her own. She was an atheist who was openly opposed to religion, for example, remaining silent during the part of the Pledge of Allegiance that refers to God.[18] In a 2011 interview Manning's father said, \"People need to understand that he's a young man that had a happy life growing up.\" He also said that Manning excelled at the saxophone, science, and computers, creating her first website at the age of ten. Manning taught herself how to use PowerPoint, won the grand prize three years in a row at the local science fair, and in sixth grade, took top prize at a statewide quiz bowl.[19] <\/p>\n
A childhood friend of Manning's, speaking about a conversation they had when Manning was 13, said \"he told me he was gay.\" The friend also stated that Manning's home life was not good and that her father was very controlling. Around this time, Manning's parents divorced, and she and her mother Susan moved out of the house to a rented apartment in Crescent, Oklahoma.[20] Susan's instability continued and in 1998 she attempted suicide; Manning's sister had to drive them to the hospital, with Manning sitting in the back of the car trying to make sure their mother was still breathing.[21] <\/p>\n
Manning's father remarried in 2000, the same year as his divorce. His new wife was also named Susan and had a son from a previous relationship. Manning apparently reacted badly when the son changed his surname to Manning too; she started taking running jumps at the walls, telling her mother: \"I'm nobody now.\"[22] <\/p>\n
In November 2001, Manning and her mother left the United States and moved to Haverfordwest, Wales, where her mother had family. Manning attended the town's Tasker Milward secondary school. A schoolfriend there told Ed Caesar for The Sunday Times that Manning's personality was \"unique, extremely unique. Very quirky, very opinionated, very political, very clever, very articulate.\" Manning's interest in computers continued, and in 2003, she and a friend set up a website, angeldyne.com, a message board that offered games and music downloads.[23] <\/p>\n
Manning became the target of bullying at the school because she was the only American and was viewed as effeminate (she was living as a boy at that time). Manning had identified to two friends in Oklahoma as gay, but was not open about it at school in Wales. The students would imitate her accent, and apparently abandoned her once during a camping trip; her aunt told The Washington Post that Manning awoke to an empty camp one morning, after everyone else packed up their tents and left without her.[24] <\/p>\n
Manning feared that her mother was becoming too ill to cope, so in 2005 (at the age of 17) Manning returned to the United States.[25] She moved in with her father in Oklahoma City, where he was living with his second wife and her child. Manning got a job as a developer with a software company, Zoto, and was apparently happy for a time, but was let go after four months. Her boss told The Washington Post that on a few occasions, Manning had \"just locked up,\" and would simply sit and stare, and in the end communication became too difficult. The boss told the newspaper that \"nobody's been taking care of this kid for a really long time.\"[26] <\/p>\n
By then, Manning was living as an openly gay man. Her relationship with her father was apparently good, but there were problems between Manning and her stepmother. In March 2006, Manning reportedly threatened her stepmother with a knife during an argument about Manning's failure to get another job; the stepmother called the police and Manning was asked to leave the house. Manning drove to Tulsa in a pickup truck her father had given her, at first sleeping in it, then moving in with a friend from school. The two got jobs at Incredible Pizza in April, and then Manning spent time in Chicago before running out of money and again having nowhere to stay. Her mother arranged for Brian's sister, Debra, a lawyer in Potomac, Maryland, to take Manning in. Nicks writes that the 15 months Manning spent with her aunt were among the most stable of her life. Manning had a boyfriend, took several low-paid jobs, and spent a semester studying history and English at Montgomery College, but left after failing an exam.[27] <\/p>\n
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