A work in progress...
Excerpts from the letters of John E. Kuhl
November 2006 - This book is available at the Odebolt Public Library. The Odebolt History Pages
editors are in the process of transcribing interesting excerpts from the letters, to be published later.
War-Time Correspondence Compiled into
Book with Historic Significance
Published with permission from
the author, Lanelle Krueger
In 1918, young men in Odebolt were boarding the train to head off to war. Church folk solemnly held dedication ceremonies for service flags bedecked in stars, one for each serviceman. Townswomen were engaged in activities to support the Red Cross. Families were planting war gardens and reaping their bounty. Service flags for employees “over there” hung in store windows downtown, where help was getting scarce. A new disease, influenza, was sweeping the country, shutting down public gatherings at times. And families were routinely picking up fountain pens to write to their beloved sons, brothers, and uncles far from home.
The original war-time correspondence of the Herman and Nellie Kuhl family of Odebolt, which included daughter Louise and son John, who enlisted in 1918, has been compiled into a book by John’s granddaughter, Lanelle Krueger of Longmont, Colorado. Krueger and her mother, Jane (Kuhl) Krueger of Holyoke, Colorado, a 1944 graduate of Odebolt High School, donated a copy of “The World War I Letters of John E. Kuhl” to the Odebolt Public Library in October, 2005.
“When I inherited these letters, I started to compile the book to share them with my family members only, considering this was a private family correspondence at the time they were written. The further I got into this project, the more I realized the letters’ historical significance to the Odebolt community,” said Lanelle. “The letters document the ‘life and times’ of 1918-1919 Odebolt on any given day of the week at that time.”
Through his letters home, the family could trace John’s travels to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., and on to Camp Joseph E. Johnston, Jacksonville, Fla. He sailed for France in August 1918, and served as a truck driver with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). His unit helped supply the frontline as the French drove the Germans out of France. Following his return to Hoboken, New Jersey, he spent time at Ft. Des Moines before his discharge from Camp Dodge in August 1919.
“His letters are rather conversational in tone, oftentimes conveying his musings and sense of wonderment at all of the new things he was experiencing and observing,” said Lanelle. “They particularly depict a war-torn France.”
Meanwhile, Louise, then a 30-year-old law secretary for W. A. Helsell, frequently used her office typewriter to regularly keep her brother supplied with the news from home. The names of numerous Odebolt residents are mentioned throughout her letters as she keeps her brother posted on the weather, who’s enlisting, who’s writing to him, who’s getting married, the goings-on at his and his father’s places of employment, and general news of the day.
For example, Louise wrote on July 3, 1918: “I think I wrote you about the big black box that Mike Paul was putting up in the center of the square. Well, they have that all fixed now and have an electric light on the top. It looks like a big black monument and on each of the four sides they have a sign which reads, ‘Dedicated to the Slackers of Odebolt and Vicinity.’ Mr. Engstrom says that they were going to leave that there to remind some of these folks around here that they were slackers.”
The letters also depict the development of rural America at a time when the head of the household could earn $20 a week, trains were pulling into town morning, noon, and evening, telegrams were more common than telephone calls since a long distance call could cost half a week’s wages, letters could be mailed with one, two, or three one-cent stamps, and electric washing machines complete with wringers were the latest home convenience.
The book also includes some post-war correspondence from army buddies and an appendix, which includes a timeline of the events of WWI, a history of the AEF, Red Cross and YMCA, and John’s and Louise’s obituaries.
“My hope is that people with an appreciation for historical preservation, or an interest in war memorabilia, will find this book helpful,” said Lanelle. “It certainly served to acquaint me with my Grandfather Kuhl, who died before I was born, and put me in touch with my ancestors’ personalities, lifestyle, and values as brought forth from they themselves in these precious family heirlooms.”
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