It has been over three years since I participated in the Normandy Scholars’ Institute, but the overriding lessons that I learned through that experience have been lifelong. Since then, many aspects of my life have changed. I have graduated high school and am currently a sophomore student at South Dakota State University. I would like to say that I am confident in a career path and have the rest of my life figured out, but that does not seem to be the case. I am still in the process of solidifying and choosing a definitive major, which can be a challenge at times.
The reason I am writing this post, though long overdue, is that I have found new and updated information on Reed and his family that I am ecstatic about! Because I don’t want to take away from my thoughts and reflections immediately following the trip and want to keep the integrity, honesty and authenticity that I wrote the rest of the website with as pertinent to the time that I wrote it, I am adding my new information to this blog.
The Story:
I am decently long-winded (I apologize) and this story starts with some background from 2013 and continues to the present. It provides insight into my thoughts and emotions while discovering new information and though long, I hope it is also engaging and a fun read overall.
Backtrack: Summer 2013
When I was conducting my research for Reed, I received a letter from someone that addressed themselves as “Stinky” or “The Troublemaker” at Heritage Living in Madison, S.D (I found this gentleman and learned that his name is actually Don Seedorf). The letter he wrote to me provided the name of a woman that could possibly have connections to Reed and his family. I called this woman, and did not get a response right away, but she called me back. I remember talking to her while I was walking around at the SD State Fair and she provided me with two phone numbers that she said might get me in contact with Reed’s family. I remember for sure calling one of them, I believe it was the home phone, but did not get an answer. I decided to call at a later time.
Over time, I forgot about the numbers. I was a sophomore in high school, with plenty of distractions to keep me busy, just like most high schoolers, college students, or adults in general. Looking back now, I wish I would have continued to call until I did get an answer, but I was either afraid (not really sure why), or it just spaced my mind. My junior and senior years also flew by too quickly and though I thought about calling sometimes, and tried to once or twice, eventually I would tend to forget again.
Flash forward: May 2016 – The end of my first year of college
I attend South Dakota State University, which is not too far from where I grew up. In the middle of finals week, my mom came to campus and brought much of my stuff home in her vehicle because I would not have fit everything into my car very well on my own. I stayed on campus until the end of the week, and when I went home I was reminded about how awesome of a lady my mom is. She and my family had unloaded all my stuff from the van, cleaned my room, and arranged everything very nicely. (Now, you may be wondering what this has to do at all with the Normandy Institute, Reed, or anything relating to this website, but I am getting there.) While cleaning, my mom put all of my piles of papers, books, and an assorted amount of other things onto my bed and informed me that I had to go through everything before I could use the bed. (Outcome: I did not sleep on my bed for a couple days!)
While I was going through my piles, I came across my research materials and other items from the Institute, one of which was the paper containing the phone numbers. I thought, “Since I am going through all of this, why don’t I try calling this phone number again?” I decided to wait until Memorial Day in the thought that if there were an answer, it may be a more meaningful surprise.
On the afternoon of Memorial Day, I called the cell phone number and a gentleman answered. I was shocked and couldn’t reply for a second. I asked, “Is this Tom Wilson?” The gentleman replied, “Yes, this is Tom.” I was speechless, which probably is not great for the first ever phone conversation with someone that I deemed as highly important, but that was what happened. Internally, I was full of emotions: uncontained excitement predominated, but I was also nervous, giddy, astounded, and slightly overwhelmed. After my split second of: “Shoot, what do I say next?!”, I think I stumbled through a brief introduction of myself. Once I had slightly calmed my excitement a little bit, I was able to explain to Tom more thoroughly who I was and my reasons for calling him. We had a very long conversation and he seemed just as excited about my story as I was in making contact with him. I discussed the Institute, my website, and his father, which I also wanted to know more about. Before we got off the phone we discussed that he would be coming to South Dakota in June and that both of us would love to meet up. I also gave him the website URL for Reed’s website, my email, and my cell phone number.
After we hung up, my emotions were again running super high; I’m pretty sure I was shaking with excitement. I was ecstatic! I had just talked to Reed’s son! I felt this immense sense of elation that I had to share so I started calling important people on the phone. My first thought was, “I need to tell Mrs. Olson!” (the teacher that went to France with). I called her, running on energy and excitement, but she did not answer. I next tried my parents, but my mom didn’t answer either. Then, I called my best friend from college because I knew that even if she did not understand my uncontrollable enthusiasm, she would still listen and try to comprehend the emotions coursing through me at that time. After I talked to her, I again called my mom and some others, who were also very excited for me. All-in-all, my excitement was pretty uncontainable and I was shaking for a good long time after the phone conversation.
June 2016:
I moved back to campus to work as a New Student Orientation Leader, but Tom and I kept in contact about our possible meeting. During that time, I also received a phone call from Tom’s daughter in reference to finding out about the website. I called her back and had a very touching conversation with her about my trip, Reed, and the fact that I was able to get into contact with their family. Every time I had any communication with Reed’s family, I got a sense of excitement, which still happens to occur. Through our communication, Tom and I decided to meet on June 24th at 4:00pm at McCrory Gardens. I asked my supervisor if I could leave earlier for this meeting and she was all for it. That day, I worked with the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences and registration was going a little long. I asked my fellow Orientation Leaders if I could leave a little early, briefly explained the importance of my meeting, and they pretty much forced me out of the school library. Not that I wasn’t already ready to leave, they just reinforced that they had things under control and that I did not need to be there if I had other important things to attend to.
I biked over to McCrory Gardens, walked in the door, and saw small group of four individuals standing inside the door, three gentlemen and one lady. I asked, “Is one of you Tom Wilson?” Tom replied, “Are you Karee Wicks?” Introductions were made and we both gave each other hugs. His sister took some pictures of us, but then she and her husband went to walk around the gardens, while I talked to Tom and his brother. I had brought many items I had gotten in France, or various items I used for research, which I showed to them. I also explained the entirety of the trip in general to provide a better understanding of the opportunity I had received because of Mrs. Lauren Olson, Albert H. Small, Dr. Tom Long, Dr. Cathy Gorn, and countless other individuals.
Tom had also brought his own items to show me, many of which were pictures. Some were of Reed and his family, but others were of Tom as a child to show how alike he and Reed looked. Tom also filled in some of their family’s story that I wasn’t able to find otherwise, such as how Tom’s mother married Winston Wilson after the war and how their family ended up living in California.
It was a wonderful conversation and I was extremely blessed to have the opportunity to meet Tom and his family as well as to accept some gifts that he brought with him from California. I did not get to see them for very long, but the brief amount of time meant the world to me.
After our visit, I went back to campus and just walked around, again just with this immense feeling of elation. It is amazing how much joy and reflection the Normandy Scholars’ Institute has brought me and continues to bring me. Every once in a while, I continue to find myself thinking about Reed, particularly around patriotic holidays, and the sacrifices that he and countless other Americans have willingly went through to provide the freedoms and opportunities we all have today.
If you made it all the way through this immense post, I very much appreciate it. Thank you for taking the time to visit this website, to learn about and acknowledge a soldier that has helped changed the world and that is continuing to change my life still. There are many other websites like mine, for countless other heroes, and if you have the opportunity, I would promote checking those out as well! I will continue to use this blog page for any more updates or information I receive about Reed, or that I deem otherwise important for the overall message of this website. Thank you!
The reason I am writing this post, though long overdue, is that I have found new and updated information on Reed and his family that I am ecstatic about! Because I don’t want to take away from my thoughts and reflections immediately following the trip and want to keep the integrity, honesty and authenticity that I wrote the rest of the website with as pertinent to the time that I wrote it, I am adding my new information to this blog.
The Story:
I am decently long-winded (I apologize) and this story starts with some background from 2013 and continues to the present. It provides insight into my thoughts and emotions while discovering new information and though long, I hope it is also engaging and a fun read overall.
Backtrack: Summer 2013
When I was conducting my research for Reed, I received a letter from someone that addressed themselves as “Stinky” or “The Troublemaker” at Heritage Living in Madison, S.D (I found this gentleman and learned that his name is actually Don Seedorf). The letter he wrote to me provided the name of a woman that could possibly have connections to Reed and his family. I called this woman, and did not get a response right away, but she called me back. I remember talking to her while I was walking around at the SD State Fair and she provided me with two phone numbers that she said might get me in contact with Reed’s family. I remember for sure calling one of them, I believe it was the home phone, but did not get an answer. I decided to call at a later time.
Over time, I forgot about the numbers. I was a sophomore in high school, with plenty of distractions to keep me busy, just like most high schoolers, college students, or adults in general. Looking back now, I wish I would have continued to call until I did get an answer, but I was either afraid (not really sure why), or it just spaced my mind. My junior and senior years also flew by too quickly and though I thought about calling sometimes, and tried to once or twice, eventually I would tend to forget again.
Flash forward: May 2016 – The end of my first year of college
I attend South Dakota State University, which is not too far from where I grew up. In the middle of finals week, my mom came to campus and brought much of my stuff home in her vehicle because I would not have fit everything into my car very well on my own. I stayed on campus until the end of the week, and when I went home I was reminded about how awesome of a lady my mom is. She and my family had unloaded all my stuff from the van, cleaned my room, and arranged everything very nicely. (Now, you may be wondering what this has to do at all with the Normandy Institute, Reed, or anything relating to this website, but I am getting there.) While cleaning, my mom put all of my piles of papers, books, and an assorted amount of other things onto my bed and informed me that I had to go through everything before I could use the bed. (Outcome: I did not sleep on my bed for a couple days!)
While I was going through my piles, I came across my research materials and other items from the Institute, one of which was the paper containing the phone numbers. I thought, “Since I am going through all of this, why don’t I try calling this phone number again?” I decided to wait until Memorial Day in the thought that if there were an answer, it may be a more meaningful surprise.
On the afternoon of Memorial Day, I called the cell phone number and a gentleman answered. I was shocked and couldn’t reply for a second. I asked, “Is this Tom Wilson?” The gentleman replied, “Yes, this is Tom.” I was speechless, which probably is not great for the first ever phone conversation with someone that I deemed as highly important, but that was what happened. Internally, I was full of emotions: uncontained excitement predominated, but I was also nervous, giddy, astounded, and slightly overwhelmed. After my split second of: “Shoot, what do I say next?!”, I think I stumbled through a brief introduction of myself. Once I had slightly calmed my excitement a little bit, I was able to explain to Tom more thoroughly who I was and my reasons for calling him. We had a very long conversation and he seemed just as excited about my story as I was in making contact with him. I discussed the Institute, my website, and his father, which I also wanted to know more about. Before we got off the phone we discussed that he would be coming to South Dakota in June and that both of us would love to meet up. I also gave him the website URL for Reed’s website, my email, and my cell phone number.
After we hung up, my emotions were again running super high; I’m pretty sure I was shaking with excitement. I was ecstatic! I had just talked to Reed’s son! I felt this immense sense of elation that I had to share so I started calling important people on the phone. My first thought was, “I need to tell Mrs. Olson!” (the teacher that went to France with). I called her, running on energy and excitement, but she did not answer. I next tried my parents, but my mom didn’t answer either. Then, I called my best friend from college because I knew that even if she did not understand my uncontrollable enthusiasm, she would still listen and try to comprehend the emotions coursing through me at that time. After I talked to her, I again called my mom and some others, who were also very excited for me. All-in-all, my excitement was pretty uncontainable and I was shaking for a good long time after the phone conversation.
June 2016:
I moved back to campus to work as a New Student Orientation Leader, but Tom and I kept in contact about our possible meeting. During that time, I also received a phone call from Tom’s daughter in reference to finding out about the website. I called her back and had a very touching conversation with her about my trip, Reed, and the fact that I was able to get into contact with their family. Every time I had any communication with Reed’s family, I got a sense of excitement, which still happens to occur. Through our communication, Tom and I decided to meet on June 24th at 4:00pm at McCrory Gardens. I asked my supervisor if I could leave earlier for this meeting and she was all for it. That day, I worked with the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences and registration was going a little long. I asked my fellow Orientation Leaders if I could leave a little early, briefly explained the importance of my meeting, and they pretty much forced me out of the school library. Not that I wasn’t already ready to leave, they just reinforced that they had things under control and that I did not need to be there if I had other important things to attend to.
I biked over to McCrory Gardens, walked in the door, and saw small group of four individuals standing inside the door, three gentlemen and one lady. I asked, “Is one of you Tom Wilson?” Tom replied, “Are you Karee Wicks?” Introductions were made and we both gave each other hugs. His sister took some pictures of us, but then she and her husband went to walk around the gardens, while I talked to Tom and his brother. I had brought many items I had gotten in France, or various items I used for research, which I showed to them. I also explained the entirety of the trip in general to provide a better understanding of the opportunity I had received because of Mrs. Lauren Olson, Albert H. Small, Dr. Tom Long, Dr. Cathy Gorn, and countless other individuals.
Tom had also brought his own items to show me, many of which were pictures. Some were of Reed and his family, but others were of Tom as a child to show how alike he and Reed looked. Tom also filled in some of their family’s story that I wasn’t able to find otherwise, such as how Tom’s mother married Winston Wilson after the war and how their family ended up living in California.
It was a wonderful conversation and I was extremely blessed to have the opportunity to meet Tom and his family as well as to accept some gifts that he brought with him from California. I did not get to see them for very long, but the brief amount of time meant the world to me.
After our visit, I went back to campus and just walked around, again just with this immense feeling of elation. It is amazing how much joy and reflection the Normandy Scholars’ Institute has brought me and continues to bring me. Every once in a while, I continue to find myself thinking about Reed, particularly around patriotic holidays, and the sacrifices that he and countless other Americans have willingly went through to provide the freedoms and opportunities we all have today.
If you made it all the way through this immense post, I very much appreciate it. Thank you for taking the time to visit this website, to learn about and acknowledge a soldier that has helped changed the world and that is continuing to change my life still. There are many other websites like mine, for countless other heroes, and if you have the opportunity, I would promote checking those out as well! I will continue to use this blog page for any more updates or information I receive about Reed, or that I deem otherwise important for the overall message of this website. Thank you!