May 2018 – May it even turn young hearts to thinking about lives paid for our way of life even in the midst of their cellphones and activities. May there even be Dallas County kids who will “adopt” the Wilson brothers at Perry, like Europeans do at our American cemeteries overseas.
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My habit is to journal first thing in the quiet of morning. Probably 25 years ago my journals contained a prayer that the Wilson family stories would never be forgotten. I even prayed then that eventually people would travel to see where they lived out their ordinary but compelling lives–at Dexter, Minburn, Perry, Iowa.
Back then I was trying to learn to write well enough to share their story in a book. Well, more than one book, I guess. I know too much for just one volume.
Then I took time out, nearly two decades, with an unwellness that included not being able to write. Nor even read. And all-over physical pain. Chronic fatigue, they called it, then decided it was fibromyalgia. Finally coming slowly out of the misery, the want to share the Wilson stories began to shimmer again.
I guess I’m working backwards, starting with their WWWII years at Minburn, then Perry.
Their Depression Era years (at Dexter) are mapped out, ready to begin shaping the stories for the next book.
Right now the third I’ve designated Turn of the Century (mainly Guthrie County, including Stuart), which includes Leora Wilson’s childhood, marriage, and starting her family.
Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II is in the process of being self-published through Amazon’s KDP, and should be birthed in about a month.
Dexter
Meanwhile, I’m so thankful that local historian, retired history teacher and coach, Rod Stanley, made a large wall display of the family at the Dexter Museum. He’s also featured them in history programs he gives regularly.
Perry
After my Memorial Day essay was published by The Des Moines Register a few years ago, Jeanette Peel-Peddicord of Perry took it to heart. She and the Perry Preservation Commission bought permanent flag medallions to add beside the Wilson stones at Violet Hill Cemetery, and they held a moving ceremony and reception. The man in the picture at left is Gene Peel.
Forest Park Museum
Deanette Snyder had wondered for years why no one knew about the loss of the three Wilson brothers of Dallas County. She and her husband Lee made sure they are remembered but donating a poster (stand made by Lee Snyder) to the Forest Park Museum, which is not even a mile north of where Clabe and Leora Wilson bought an acreage after all five sons had left to serve in World War II.
Forest Park Museum: Cousins Elizabeth Wilson (widow of Delbert’s son Delbert Ross Wilson, from Arizona) and Chris Scar (widow of Darlene’s son Dennis Scar, from Earlham).
Minburn
Ray Sorensen was probably in grade school or junior high when I prayed that prayer long ago. He painted the Original Freedom Rock while still a teenager. His talent has burgeoned into a wonderful gift for the State of Iowa, the goal being a Freedom Rock in each of our 99 counties.
If the Dallas County Freedom Rock, with the five Wilson brothers borne on the wings of an American Bald Eagle and canopied by an American Flag, is an answer to my long ago prayers, this is beyond anything I could have imagined.
The dedication of this memorial is tomorrow, October 19, 2019. Maybe the Wilson family is looking down from Heaven today, also amazed that their enormous sacrifice for our country is being honored and remembered.
I am humble and thankful.
Ray Sorensen’s grandfather Michael Sorensen died Wednesday. The funeral is tomorrow, so Ray won’t be able to come to the dedication. I’m not only speaking about the Wilson family, I’ll also be including some of his remarks about the Dallas County Freedom Rock.
A compelling story about the Sorensen family from 2014.