Kuhns | Stephanie Huesler

Have you ever started what seemed like a small project, only to realize that you’d fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole, ala Wonderland?

I was sitting in my library last weekend, and I glanced up at a few old photo albums on the top shelf of one of our bookcases. I’ve been meaning to photograph, restore and edit those pictures for years, so I finally pulled one down and began. It happened to be my family history album, with photographs as far back as 1890. And so it began.

The last time I wrote an article about family history, only a couple days later I was contacted by then-unknown branches of that family – distant relatives who’d been looking for that kind of missing-link information. That article was posted on a dormant blog of mine, so I’ll post it here this coming week – who knows, maybe more relatives will show up for the party!

I spread the album open on our dining table, and began taking pictures of pictures (if you’ve ever done this, you’ll know that glossy photos are the bane of restoration attempts!), then painstakingly took out each scratch and superficial film blemish caused by age and my two emigrations (first Scotland, then Switzerland). I cropped, turned, tweaked and focused until each photo was restored and properly labelled. Then I began feeding them into a digital album program – when it’s ready, I’ll be able to order a physical hardback book, and the project will be on my cloud account to avoid losing the whole project, as happened once before (I still have the photos, and the printed book, so I can re-create it, but it hurts to have lost all that work through a computer crash, pre-cloud…!).

That’s when the first rabbit hole opened. Being a writer, I’m curious by nature. Or maybe my curiosity led me into writing. Whatever. I’m curious, and I love research. I also have a lot of experience in tracking missing persons: About 12 years ago, I tracked down nearly all of my 35 former classmates from Hawaii, 1986, from Australia to Guam to Norway to Brazil to Seattle. Every evening, when my husband came home from work, he couldn’t wait to hear what I’d accomplished that day: I “bribed” a retired LAPD detective with a bar of Swiss chocolate to track down one friend who was a hermit in the Californian mountains with no phone, no internet, and no address. I had enough for him to go on, and he put legs to my work – within 24 hours, I had my man – he came down the mountain for a phone call with me. Another friend had moved out of state from the last known address, and his name was a common one – too common to find him through conventional ways. So, I put Google Earth, white pages and intuition together, with a dose of southern charm (I’m not from the south, but I can turn it on if need be!), and got the state he’d moved to from a former neighbour of his – all he knew was where he might be working. Another friend was off-grid for security reasons – and I still tracked her down (I told her, “I could tell you how I did it, but then I’d have to kill you!” 😉) Needless to say, almost every track was an adventure.

Which brings me to the present rabbit hole: I’ve begun work on my paternal family album; on the maternal side, I don’t have any information beyond my great-grandparents, but I can trace my paternal grandmother’s family back to the Danish village they came from, on the island west of Copenhagen – and once I’ve filled in as wide as I can from the emigrated side, I’ll contact the Danish records offices or cemetery of the Old Town and go back further still if I can – so far, I’m into the 1830s; hopefully, such European records survived World Wars 1 & 2.

Nis & Maren “Mary” Aaroe, my great-great-grandparents, who immigrated with 2 small children to Kansas from Vonsild, Denmark in the 1880s. Here, in the late 1910’s.

There are a few websites that specialize in ancestry – but most of them want to charge you to see the information. I understand that a company needs to have a viable income to offset their costs, but such websites often rely on volunteer family members feeding in that information on their own dime, so I won’t support them. I have found two websites that have proven invaluable; if you want to do something similar, here they are:

www.findagrave.com is a website gathering of history and genealogy enthusiasts who photograph tombstones and gather personal information about the individual from official documents, obits, etc., with the purpose of honouring them and allowing others to find family members. It was the first time I’d seen my own father’s gravestone. I’ve been on there less than a week, and I’ve become the custodian of a dozen virtual family graves; it will be easier to add information as I come across it in research as the rabbit hole deepens. Through the efforts of complete strangers unrelated to my family, I’ve been able to fill in the blanks of missing birthdates and death-dates, as well as next of kin, and their next of kin, and so on. Another rabbit hole!

The second website is www.wikitree.com; it is a free website, like Wikipedia, but for genealogists to collaborate through, with forums and all kinds of helpful groups to get you started. So far, I haven’t needed any of the forums myself, but I’ve been busy building up the family tree and collecting pictures and information there. As I have my husband’s family tree already, it will be my next project on that website.

Keep in mind that I’m doing all of this in my spare time; I’m working on my 5th novel’s manuscript, and I have a husband in home office through the week, which means 2 meals a day instead of just 1 to plan ahead for and prepare. Someone does laundry, and cleans the house and goes grocery shopping – but since I haven’t been able to train our cats to do that, I guess it’s me, while my husband earns our keep. He earns, I spend – it works well for us. 😉

For the sake of potential relatives searching for family names online, my heritage is as follows:

Umbarger, Kuhns, Hüsler (Huesler), Aagaard (The anglicized Danish surname is sometimes misspelled as Agard or Aagard), Aaroe, Higbee, Herring. So glad I don’t have that string on my official documents! Two things can sometimes make tracking difficult is that firstly, maiden names are exchanged for the married surname, causing a break in the chain; secondly, the Ellis Island effect – officials didn’t know how to spell the name properly, so they recorded it phonetically, which makes unravelling the true path more of a challenge.

This week, the intrigue continues as I begin trying to track down the missing branches of my family. My goal is to make the album project available to even distant relatives who might be interested, although it will obviously have the emphasis of my personal perspective as far as photos go, the closer to my generation I get.

Have you done any family history research, or a family tree? Have you ever taken a DNA test? If so, what did it reveal about you and your ancestors? Please comment below!

Raymond and Wanda Kuhns, 1 August 1939

The following post was originally 3 separate posts on my History Undusted blog; it is a lengthier post than I usually offer, but well worth the read for those interested in history, World War Two, and life in the US Navy. Enjoy!

My grandfather, Raymond Dale Kuhns, was a clerk aboard the cruiser USS Metevier for 6-9 months during World War 2, based out of San Diego, California. His typewriter was bolted to the desk, the desk to the floor, but his chair was on rollers; so he’d type a few letters before rolling away, and wait to roll back; ever after he typed with the hunt and peck method, as it apparently didn’t do much good to learn touch typing.

The document below is the onboard journal that he kept during that time, beginning in November 1944, through June 1945. There are a few notes for clarity interspersed, written by myself, or by my mother, Connie, of stories he told her; she was three at the time. While the journal entries are very matter-of-fact, without many personal “memoir” elements, it is still a fascinating historical insight into life aboard a ship during the Second World War. My grandfather was the biggest practical joker I will ever care or dare to come into contact with; any practical jokes that happened aboard, such as the monkey and chicken, were most likely instigated by him…

November 1944 – February 1945

3 Nov. 1944 – Underway in heavy fog.

4 Nov 1944 – Loaded ammunition. Dropped some down hatch! Whew!

9 Nov. 1944 (mail sent) Passed through gate to Limon Bay, Canal Zone, Panama. Moored Coaling Pier, Cristobal. Left (Nov) 10th, went through Miraflores Lock.

13 Nov. 1944 (mail sent) Crossed equator at 0756. Now a “Shellback”. (Connie’s note- Dad told stories about the hazing men endured first time to cross the equator. – had to run a gauntlet of fire hoses in action, a “swat-line” between the “old timers” hitting them with paddles, all kinds of practical jokes, etc.). Entered Deolian Cave, Baltna Island, Galapagos. Saw 2 seals, fishing. Left 14th.

25 Nov. 1944. (mail sent) Entered Bora Bora, Society Island. Beautiful. Purchased 2 grass skirts, bracelet, 2 sets beads. Were they made in U.S.??? Left 26th (Connie – “We probably still have the grass skirts – and I know there is a picture of AJ and I with them. Also, the “beads” were small conch shells – probably also a pic somewhere, I’ll try to find it”).

Summary: Month was uneventful. Seasick first night out. Never set my foot on land. Received no mail.

3 Dec. 1944. No such date for us. Crossed the International Date Line.

6 Dec. 1944. Missed wife on her birthday. Great gal. Made landfall on Solomon. Skirted NW tip of Guadalcanal. First liberty. 4 Cokes!! Left 8 Dec.

11 Dec. 1944. Entered Humbolt Bay, Dutch New Guinea (“Hollandia”) Left 19th

14 Dec. 1944. Connie’s birthday. Miss the rascal.

25 Dec. 1944. Miss my wife and kiddies especially. First enemy contact. Dropped bomb. One plane. Undamaged or undamaging.

26 Dec. 1944. Entered Leyte Gulf. Left 27th.

Summary: Looks like business is picking up. I forgot to mention that Dec. 24th, we made our first depth charge attack. No luck! Amazed at mass of ships in Leyte. No attacks while there.

15 Jan. 1945. Leaving Lingayen Gulf for Leyte??

16 Jan 1945. Friendly plane came out of clouds. G.Q. called (“general quarters”). Came near firing. From angle it approached, we couldn’t hardly of missed. A real scare.

17 Jan. 1945. 0300 D.Disn. Convoy destroyed Jap barge. Search light revealed several Japs in it. Used 5″ and 40 mm. Did not try to rescue any.

20 Jan. 1945. (mail sent/ mail received) Entered San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippines. Hope wife receives letter I wrote today.

26 Jan. 1945. Left Leyte for invasion of Luzon, just north of Subic Bay.

29 Jan. 1945. 14 hours minus 1 or 7:30 naval bombardment of beaches to begin. However, 10 minutes before, Philippine guerillas came out and informed us territory taken. So this invasion force of 60,000 landed without a shot being fired. We are sitting 60 miles from Manila. It is now mid-afternoon, and Japs have not contested invasion at all. Things look good for us here. Left 2000 for Leyte without once contacting enemy.

30 Jan 1945. Ship in convoy was struck by torpedo. No casualties. Ship towed in and repaired.

This month really went fast!

1 Feb. 1945. Arrived back in Leyte. No action or alerts on return trip from Luzon. Too late to go after mail!!! SHUCKS!

2 Feb. 1945. Liberty in Leyte. 6 Cokes!! Learned foot soldiers’ view of our enemy.

3 Feb. 1945 (mail received/ mail sent) Brought 2 monkeys and 2 roosters aboard. Had to get rid of them.

6 Feb. 1945. Left Leyte without getting any more mail.

11 Feb. 1945. Arrived Woendi. This is a group of coral islands near New Guinea. Beautiful. Like a vacation here.

12 Feb. 1945. Liberty. Played basketball, then went swimming.

13 Feb. 1945. Received special liberty to play on baseball (softball) team. Defeated tug 4 – 3 in 10 innings. Won 4 cases beer and got 5 cases from ship. The boys all came back stewed. I had to drink one for thirst. No fresh water available.

14 Feb, 1945, Left this “rest camp” with memories of best time since leaving dear wife and kiddies. Going back to front in all probability. Feeling ready now. Hope to get mail SOON!!

20 Feb. 1945. (Mail received/ mail sent) Arrived back on Leyte. Trip back uneventful. Received 24 letters. Boy oh Boy!

21 Feb, 1945. Liberty. Sold beer for $1, gave other 3 away.

24 Feb, 1945, (mail sent/mail received). Received 16 more letters.

25 Feb. 1945. Attended church USS Wasatch. Refused liberty. Stayed aboard and wrote letters.

27 Feb. 1945. Left Leyte for Mindoro. Glad to get away. Poor liberty.

Summary: This month very uneventful. Enjoyed liberty at Woendi more than anything else. Got fairly well caught up on mail.

Here are a few extra bits of trivia from my mother:

“4 Nov. ’44 – the “Whew” was probably a prayer of thankfulness that the whole load had not exploded when some got dropped!
I only heard your grandpa talk once about the horrors he must have seen. – ships blown out of the water, etc. He and my uncle Victor talked one Christmas when I was a teen about picking surviving mates off an adjacent ship in the fleet that had been torpedoed – and picking survivors out of the ocean.
13 Feb ’45. Your grandpa didn’t drink beer – of course, his father (Reverend H.A. Kuhns) wouldn’t have liked it – although before H.A. was saved, he had “owned a dance hall” – your grandpa told me after we were grown women. So I’m sure beer at least was part of my grandpa’s experience B.C.
25 Feb. ’45 – Of course “liberty” for most meant finding liquor and women, which were not for your grandpa. I am so thankful for the Christian heritage we have!!!!!”
Note of interest: Aboard they slept in hammocks; once the guy above him jumped up at the call for general quarters, and knocked himself out on the overhead beam; needless to say he didn’t make it to his station on time…

March – April 1945

Raymond Kuhns, Age 45, taken in 1965

[NOTE: Back in the mid-1980s I was in the Philippines for two months, living near the Subic Bay Naval Base just across a bridge from Olongapo. I saw up close and personal the temptations men in the military face, and for a Christian man such as my grandfather, he had to try and find alternatives to “going out with the boys” on liberty, though often the Red Light District was (and is) where the restaurants were, so it was a Catch 22. When I was living there I was working with a Christian missions organisation among the prostitutes, drug dealers and pimps, as well as those who worked in street shop/booths (I’m still in touch with one or two!), and our home was a place for the Christian military men to come and hang out when they were off-duty; nearly every day I’d come down to the living room to find strangers there, reading or talking. I don’t know if he had such a place back then, but fisherman’s missions and military missions are far more common now, because the temptations (the sex industry, drugs, alcohol, etc.) are more rampant than ever. When I returned to the States he enjoyed talking to me about Subic and the PI as he knew it, and I think it was special for him to talk to his granddaughter who had seen some of the places and things he’d seen so many years before.]

1 March 1945. This month started off with a bang. Dropped D.C. (depth charges)- 5 of them in the middle of the night. I was on helm. Boys sleeping really thought we got it. Entered Mindoro.

2-5 March 1945. (mail sent/mail received) A/S duty Mangatin Bay. Got mail, which means they transferred us here for duty.

6 March 1945. Off Manila Bay A/S duty, then returned to Mangatin Bay.

7 March 1945. Entered Bay for fueling.

8,9,10 March, 1945. Another A/S* sweep to Luzon. (*anti-mine sweep)

11 March 1945. Back to A/S Mindoro.

12 March 1945. (mail sent/mail received). Got mail via ship that had been in Port. Proceeded into Bay and got more mail.

14 March 1945. Availability cancelled. A ship on A/S sweep run aground we had to relieve it. Just our luck.

15-18 March 1945. A/S sweep and on 18 entered Mangarin for 2 days availablity.

19 March 1945. Liberty in Mindoro. Quite a place. Rode in a jeep with army captain to San Jose. Saw sugar mill that was hit by P-47 in morning. Saw unit of paratroopers who made landings on Corrigedor. Helped sort mail at P.O. FINALLY got Christmas presents. Included billfold, leather toilet kit, shower shoes, pictures, and wedding band. Every gift perfect. One box of candy had to be thrown away. Really enjoyed it even though it was late.

20-23 March 1945. A/S sweep off Mindoro.

24-25 March 1945. (mail sent/mail received) A/S sweep to Luzon and returned. Fueled and got underway for Leyte. These two days were roughest I have seen. Had to strap myself in sack. Did not get sick. 36 bags Christmas mail.

26-28 March 1945. Escorting Army tug with barge at 3-1/2 knots. No wonder it took us 4 days to get here. Entered San Pedro Bay.

29-31 March 1945. (sent mail/received mail). Available for maintenance. We got 11 bags of mail, but most of it was rest of Christmas packages.

Summary: Most of this month was spent on ping line of A/S duty. The first was most amusing. Christmas packages really helped our moral. Nothing exciting or dangerous.

1-4 April 1945. (mail sent/mail received) In San Pedro Bay. Received one liberty – had interesting conversation with Philippine guerrila. Scabby sores on natives pathetic sight. Still getting good mail service. Red Light District.

(Note: the “scabby sores” were probably secondary syphillis – sailors often given penicillin IM before they let them off the boat!)

5 April 1945. Underway to Manila. 3 escorts with one troop ship. 15 knots – exceptionally fast convoy.

7 April 1945. Arrived Manila. Passed very close to Corregidor and got a good look at it. Liberty in Manila. What a place. Harbor full of sunken Jap ships. Every building in business district damaged. Most of them blown to bits. Saw Jap mass-burial place. Cars that looked like strainers. Eats very high – 75 cents for one scoop ice cream. Rode in cart affair (horse-drawn) through town cost us $2.50. Men came back to ship drunk and not virgins. People dress very American. Had to wear whites on this liberty. Really got my first glimpse of war devastation. Got stamps and money souvenirs.

8-9 April 1945. Anchored in Manila harbor. No mail service here at all.

10 April 1945. Left Manila for Leyte

11 April 1945. All hell broke loose at 1130. We rammed native sailboat that was carrying 42 persons. Called to G.Q. As I was asleep, I really bounced out of my sack when alarm sounded. Arrived at G.Q. station and heard hysterical screams of survivors and saw them as we illuminated them. Picked up 37 survivors. Continued search. Picked up 2 small babies floating face down. Dead when rescued, but boys worked feverishly for 3 hours with artificial respiration, but no luck.

12 April 1945. (sent mail/received mail) 0330 another G.Q. with fire amidships. I couldn’t imagine us having another G.Q. and just stood and listened to alarm, but when fire was announced, I tore up to station. I was not in my sack at the time, as survivors had our compartment. Two small girls had my bunk. Fire not serious and confined to drying room. Had 4-8 watch, so was up till 10:30 next night without sleep. One small baby died from effects of night before. Transferred the survivors around noon, as we arrived back in Leyte. There were 36 alive (one expected to die), 3 dead, and 3 we could not find in the wreckage. The miracle to me was the number that lived through the ordeal. Saw anguish in mothers’ faces as they looked at dead children. Saw and sympathized with those who missed their children. The native craft was supposed to have been 50 feet in length and cost 10,000 pesos. A very large native boat. It was taking natives away from Japs on Mindanao. We were first Americans they had seen since 1941. Doubt very much if they were happy to see us. Made Y2C (Yeoman 2nd class). Received authorization from ComSerfor. Ship was very nice and did not make me wait for first of month. That means treats for the boys.

13 April 1945. (mail received) Learned of President’s death (FDR). Also got news of being 50 miles from Berlin. Liberty at Pambujuan, Samar. Pulled joke on chief regarding censorship regulations – very effective.

14 April 1945. LOST MY WEDDING BAND! Don’t know how or where. Did not eat morning chow, I felt so bad. Hope my darling wife isn’t too mad at me for it.

15 April 1945. (Mail sent/mail received) Church on USS Medusa. Memorial service for Roosevelt. Very good. Got our first fresh provisions in approx 3 months. Received letters from Wanda. Put 3 coats of paint on bottom of ship in 48 hours. Not bad while in dry dock. Got us up at 5:30 for special sea details, then didn’t get away before 1100. Purchased treats on ratings*. (Note: *Rations?)

May – June 1945

Raymond Dale Kuhns, 1995

25 April 1945 (sent mail/received mail) Received Easter pictures. Just love the ones of my wife.

26 April 1945 Saw 10 carriers of British Fleet which was a big encouragement. Firing practice.

27 April 1945 (mail sent/mail received) Underway to Okinawa. More firng practice. New war cruising watch. Now at G-2.

30 April 1945. G.Q. at 0200. 3 planes. Did not close. Started dusk and dawn alerts.

Summary: What a Month!! Interesting at Manila. Sailboat incident. Lost wedding band. Made Rate (grade of official standing of enlisted men). Dry Dock (Whooie). Headed for Okinawa. 196 days since I have seen my family. Sure miss them.

1 May 1945 – Rolled D.C. (damage control?) at good contact. At 1305, called to G-2. Exploded a mine. We were headed right for it when lookout sighted it. Explosion sent water 150 feet in the air.

2 May 1945. Arrived Okinawa. No suicide raids. Shelling beaches.

3 May 1945. 1000 left Okinawa in company with BB Tennesee. Heard of suicide raids 6 hours after we left. One DD who was stationed 3000 yards from us was hit with 5 suicides.

4 May 1945. Big suicide raids on Okinawa and Jap reinforcements landed. Believe God definitely answered prayers of protection on this mission. It was too rainy all the time we were in Okinawa for raids. Numerous ones feel we were fortunate and lucky, but as far as I am concerned, God gets the credit.

6 May 1945. (mail sent/mail received) Arrived back in Leyte after sinking floating nets earlier in the morning. Received 11 letters – more than I deserved for the ones I wrote this trip.

7 May 1945. Liberty. tramped through hills of Samar. Rest of day uneventful. May 8 or 9- V.E. Day!!

9 May 1945 Into Dry Dock again. Sound dome came loose. Oh Me!! Manicani Island.

10 May 1945. Water hours.

11 May 1945. Left dry dock. Reported on ping line between Homonhon Island and Dinagat Island in Surigao Straits. This is point of big Philippine naval battles.

12 May 1945. Firing practice. Shore bombard on Dinagat Island.

13 May 1945. Firing Practice. Held Vesper service in accordance with President’s request for prayers. Remembered and offered thanks for V.E. Day. Mothers’ Day. Sure miss you, Wanda. Picked up loose sono buoy.

14 May 1945. AA (anti-aircraft) Practice. Knocked down sleeves, which indicates we could hit airplanes. Returned to Leyte. Movies. I played checkers.

15 May 1945. (mail sent/mail received). Received 5 letters. On liberty in Samar. Boys couldn’t get over seeing WAC Camp – white women. First group we have seen. Played checkers again.

16 May 1945. Starting on mail run. Best and safest duty we could have gotten.

17 May 1945. Arrived Zamboanga, Mindanao. First stop on mail run. Natives came out to ship in droves. Bought large seashell. Left at 1300.

18 May 1945. Arrived Panay, second stop mail run. PT boat came out so we didn’t go into port. Left 0700. Arrived Mindoro at 1900. Showed movie. Left 1000.

19 May 1945. Arrived Manila 0600, left 1130. Arrived Subic Bay 1500, left 0630.

21 May 1945. Arrived Leyte 0600. Trip very uneventful. No mail. I was sort of disappointed. Attended U.S.O. show on beach. Oklahoma – very good under conditions.

22 May 1945. Left 0930 for Guivan Roadstead. Arrived 11:00. Got stores, had movie in PM (I played checkers).

23 May 1945. Left 0600. Arrived Leyte 0800. Left Leyte at 1000 for San Bernadine Straits.

24 May 1945. Arrived on patrol station in straits. Boiler trouble, so we head back to Leyte.

25 May 1945. (mail sent/mail received). Saw 2 water spouts. Arrived back home. Received 3 letters.

26 May 1945 (mail sent/mail received) Received 2 more letters today. Got 2 Cokes off Medusa, Oh Boy! 2 for a nickel.

26 May to 9 June 1945. Tied up alongside Medusa. Enjoyed being able to get Cokes, Ice Cream, liberty every third day, and movies every night. One fellow went nuts and run off in the woods. Not such a bad idea. It got him back to the states. Good church services on Medusa.

10 June 1945. Underway 1800 for Calicoan to get supplies.

11 June 1945. Helped get stores on beach. Missed good turkey dinner. Left for Leyte about 1800. Just got outside nets when we discovered 3 men left behind, so we turned around.

12 June 1945. Headed for Leyte with full crew. Then headed out for patrol halfway between Leyte and Yap. Firing practice.

15 June 1945. Dropped hedge hogs [A type of depth charge employed against U-Boats which were thrown ahead of the ASW ship. These devices were designed to explode on contact.]. Probably scared fish. Sub reported sighted in our area, but we didn’t get any good contacts.

17 June 1945. FATHERS’ DAY. Oh me! Here I am way out here. Headed for tropical storm area to investigate storm. This navy is NUTS at times!!

He signed off “This is all I have” – apparently he had written more, but the rest was lost – either while he was still in the military or in the subsequent years.

My grandfather passed away 8 February 2004. I saw him for the last time in October of 2003 when I went back to America for a visit; I told him at the time that I knew it would be the last time I’d see him this side of heaven, and that I would not be able to be there for his funeral (I live in Switzerland). His response was typical: He said, “Well that’s alright, I won’t be there either!” I loved him dearly, and I miss him; but I did give him one final warning: God had strict instructions not to allow him anywhere NEAR my mansion until I get there… no booby trapping allowed!