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Colonel Edward Reid
Biographical Information
Real Name Edward Reid
Gender Male
Class Nat
Social Information
Citizenship Citizen of the United States, deceased
Occupation Intelligence officer
Base of Operations White Sands
Affiliations US Army Intelligence
Origin
First Appearance Wild Cards
Creator George R.R. Martin

Edward Reid was a colonel in the US Army Intelligence in the 1940s. He was the man in charge of interrogating the alien Dr. Tachyon in August of 1946, when Tach was detained in the military base of White Sands. Reid and his interrogation team held Tachyon prisoner for days, and eventually got the whole story of the wild card virus from him. Colonel Reid had a hard time believing Tachyon's outrageous story, mainly because Tachyon just didn't look like a convincing alien. All the physical examinations indicated the strange man was human. Nonetheless, Reid eventually became convinced, due to the strange powers exhibited by Tachyon. Unfortunately, he couldn't manage to convince his superiors in Washington.

After the alien virus was released over New York City in September 15, many people blamed the military. After all, they had had warning, and failed to heed it. Colonel Reid and his interrogation team almost faced martial court. Throughout the years, many reporters spoke with Reid. Most famously, he told his story to writer and journalist Studs Terkel who included it in his book Wild Times: An Oral History of the Postwar Years. He was still bitter about people blaming him for the virus. By 1979, when he gave Terkel his testimony, Reid had already retired.

Reid had the typical no-nonsense disposition of a military man. Though he was a smart man, Reid was informal and foul-mouthed.

Quotes[]

I got down the whole story on my wire recorder. Afterwards, Army Intelligence contacted all sorts of experts. An alien virus, we told them, symptoms completely random and unpredictable. Impossible, they said. Utterly absurd.

Give me credit for one thing, at least. When all hell broke loose, I had Tachyon jetting back to New York within two hours. The redheaded wimp cried half the fucking way across the country. Me, I prayed for Jetboy.

Selected Reading[]

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