After all, it’s the place they became friends.

“It’s Whataburger – when I see the orange and white stripes, it makes me so happy,” Peyton Hammond, one of the group, says.

Fateful Day

When the first Whataburger in Tuscaloosa, Ala., opened in February 2018, the line to get inside circled around the building and down the block.

The #Whatafriends group – University of Alabama freshmen Alex Brehm and Leah Brasington, sophomore Peyton Hammond, and junior Blake Hudson and Jake Anderson – were part of the crowd.

But not all together. Not yet.

They had all arrived early hoping to get a silver University of Alabama table tent, a special commemorative item Whataburger was giving out to the first 100 people in line. Not all of them scored that special swag. (“I even tried to buy one!” Brasington says.) But, they managed to start a conversation that is still going strong.

Friends Hudson and Anderson were waiting in line together when they struck up a conversation with the others, all of them sharing stories about their love of Whataburger.

“It just started from there,” Hudson says. “We all sat together – that just might be because Leah still wanted our silver tents – but we respect that,” he laughs. They chatted for more than two hours – and then came back later that night for Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits.

Now, three months later, they meet at Whataburger once or twice a week, sometimes more.

Comfort Food

At the opening and even now, Brehm – who moved from San Antonio – sends photos of himself at Whataburger to his family.

“They messaged me back, ‘We know you are mostly a happy person, but this is the happiest we’ve seen you in a long time,’” he says.

Like Brehm, Anderson, Brasington and Hammond hailed from Texas, Whataburger’s home state. So even though they’re full of ’Bama pride, Whataburger helps them get that much-missed taste of home.

Anderson, who comes from Tyler, Texas, puts it simply: “It’s nostalgia,” he says. “I guess I go four or five times a week. And when all of us get together, it’s great because Whataburger is open 24/7. We never feel rude about sitting here a while – everyone here is so nice. It’s like a family.”

Ultimately, the 38-year-old helped ferry more than 200 people to safety in his freshly refurbished 20-foot boat.

A few days later, Estrada returned to the Gulf Coast to cook meals for first responders and deliver supplies he had collected.

Estrada’s service to his country and his community earned him a U.S. Air Force Achievement Medal and inspired a longtime friend, Gus Rodriguez, to nominate him for Whataburger’s #WhatafloatContest. As the contest winner, Estrada will ride on the Fort Sam Houston for Military Children’s Float during the Texas Cavalier’s Parade.

“He risked his life already overseas, and he didn’t hesitate to help,” says Rodriguez, noting the airman’s tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. “He’s always doing whatever he can in the community.”

A Commitment to Service

The honor came as a surprise to Estrada, who served 19 years in the Air Force and works as a vehicle management specialist. He returned home to Lackland Air Force Base in early 2017 from a deployment to Kuwait.

Previously, Estrada served in direct support of front lines during a 10-month deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, working with infrastructure support, aerial surveillance, convoys and vehicle management.

Though military training gave Estrada the grit to venture through floodwaters in pouring rain and work long days on little sleep, Hurricane Harvey was a difficult experience. He doesn’t like to revisit the fear and devastation he witnessed.

“It was a whole experience you can’t prepare for,” he says, recalling the rescue of residents from a nursing home where the ground floor was submerged.

“It’s an emotional thing,” he says. “You don’t forget the loss of hope in the eyes of people.”

After four days on rescue duty, Estrada returned home to San Antonio and held his wife and sons tight. Then, he went right back to work helping, securing donations of cash, toiletries and food.

Two days later, he and his sons hauled more than $1,500 worth of food and supplies to Rockport and Ingleside to cook meals for first responders.

Grateful to Help

Viviana Estrada says the rescue experience made her husband a better person, even after he ’fessed up that it wasn’t a military assignment. He knew she wouldn’t want him to place himself in danger only a few months after his deployment to Kuwait, so he fibbed.

“I’m really happy for him to be able to do stuff like that,” she says. “He was so grateful he was able to help other people.”

Viviana and their sons, Isaiah, 11; and Daiden, 9, will join him in the parade, which will wind down the San Antonio River April 23.