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The shy but lippy loner was born in America to English parents Brian and Susan, but moved to Wales when he was 13 after they divorced.
His ex-classmates last night told how Manning was taunted at Tasker Milward school with the name the "Dr Pepper Kid" - because he was always downing the fizzy drink.
Manning - who later came out as homosexual, to the surprise of pals - moved back to the US halfway through the sixth form and joined up.
Last week Manning was charged with leaking a video and other material to the online whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
The film, called Collateral Murder, appears to show a US Apache helicopter crew killing civilians in Iraqi capital Baghdad.
In the days after Manning was charged, WikiLeaks published a staggering 90,000 top-secret documents relating to the war in Afghanistan.
Manning, who had top security clearance and is facing a court martial over the video offence, is now being investigated over these leaks, too.
WikiLeaks has not confirmed that Manning is their source. But it is believed the website - led by Australian editor-in-chief Julian Assange, 39 - is prepared to defend him.
The soldier's ex-classmates yesterday described Manning as a computer whizzkid who was not afraid to speak his mind.
Shop manager Jenna Morris, 23, who once went on holiday with him to Disney World, Florida, said: "He was a bit of a nerd and spent all his time on the computers. He was very opinionated and arrogant.
"I remember him getting a telling-off from a teacher for being lippy.Basically he was a trouble-making, authority-hating, computer geek. He got a lot of stick. His nickname was the Dr Pepper Kid because he was always drinking Dr Pepper."
Shop worker Scott Lewis, 22, said: "He kept himself to himself. He had a tough upbringing with his parents splitting up. Whether that's had anything to do with what he's meant to have done, I don't know."
Close pal James Kirkpatrick last spoke to Manning six months ago. He revealed: "He was being a bit paranoid about what we spoke about on the internet. He didn't want to speak about the Army."
Computer hacker Adrian Lamo is believed to have turned Manning in because he felt the soldier was "a threat to national security".
He claims Manning, who worked at Forward Operating Base Hammer in Iraq, told him he had leaked Collateral Murder and other information.
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