problem using DropDownChoice

[Nelligan, Steven M]

Help,  I am new to Wicket...and have taken over a project with wicket version 
1.4.18.

I need to add another DropDownChoice in my application.
I was able to create the add logic, but the change logic is not working as 
expected.
I've been working on this for a couple of weeks, and still could not get it 
working.
Following is a snip of code causing the problem:
       otReasonDropDown = new DropDownChoice("otReason", new PropertyModel 
(commentAndOtReason, "otReasonText"), ldm2);
       otReasonDropDown.setNullValid(false);
       if (commentAndOtReason.getOtReasonText() != null) {
//          
otReasonDropDown.setDefaultModelObject(commentAndOtReason.getOtReasonText() + 
"");
            
otReasonDropDown.setDefaultModelObject(commentAndOtReason.getOtReasonText() + 
"");
       }
       String s3 = ((String) otReasonDropDown.getModelObject());
       String s31 = ((String)otReasonDropDown.getDefaultModelObjectAsString());
       int i3 = 1; //debugging
       timeCardForm.add(otReasonDropDown);

The variable commentAndOtReason.otReasonText contains the string I want the 
dropdown list to show as a default.

But the dropdown list is not showing any default, but rather an empty value.
If I select the dropdownlist, it shows the select list, including what I want 
as a default value.

How do I setup DropDownChoice to have the value in 
commentAndOtReason.otReasonText show as the current value(default value).

Thanks,
Steven M Nelligan
SENIOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPER