My Mom and Dad exchanged reel-to-reel recordings throughout his time in Vietnam.
Here, Dad talks about receiving a tape from Mom about our trip to Chicago to visit the Hrbeck family. George and Gert Hrbeck met Carl and Ruth Karst when Pastor Hrbeck led a Lutheran Church in Altus, Oklahoma, where Dad was posted at Altus Air Force Base. The friendship endured after both families moved.
In Chicago, the Hrbeks had a house church in the inner city, very much flavored by an inclusive Christianity and the Jesus movement. I remember singing “They will know we are Christians by our love” at their home church, full of kids with beads and bell-bottoms.
Six years later, George Hrbek gave the message at Dad’s Memorial service in Russell, Kan., which is recounted in this post.
A couple of comments from my Dad that stood out. Talking about what I assume are social justice/antiwar themes we saw in Chicago, Dad said, “I hope that when I get back that we will be able to have some of these discussions on a family level and arrive at some of our own conclusions.”
Finally, Dad said:
Ruth, by the time you get this, you should have been married 14 years. I just want to ask you what it feels like to to be married for 14 years. I tried to tell you in my letter a little how I felt, but I think I need to tell you on this tape too, that I just think you're the most wonderful wife any man could ask for, and I hope that the next 14, 28 years and more will be every bit as happy as the ones in the past 14 years, because they've just been wonderful.
Carl Karst audio tape Ruth Karst, in June 1968, transcribed by otter.com
Your tape arrived today along with your letter that you had written on the day that you got back from Chicago. And what a pleasant surprise it was to see this long tape. I was very disappointed at first when I pulled that little reel out and I thought, oh my goodness, all that interesting experience that they had in Chicago. And here I'm only going to get a short tape.
So I was extremely pleasantly surprised when this tape kept unwinding and unwinding and unwinding and 45 minutes later, I've been talking to you for a very interesting period of time. Again, I want to commend all of you for the real good job you did on the tape. Ruth, I think you deserve a gold star or something for sitting down as you did as late as it was that night, and to gather your thoughts and talk to me the way you did. And I was also especially pleased with the two songs that you did as a group and Dougie with your songs that you sang. I thought everybody just really did well, and I really appreciate it. And if you think you're going to get that tape back from me in a solo performance, you've got another guess coming, because I'm going to treasure that tape. And besides, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea what all I could say for that length of time.
Because I haven't been to Chicago, I really should play it all again before I make this take to you, because I'm sure there are some things that you mentioned that I should reply to or make comments on, and probably forget them as I go through this, but I will play it again tomorrow when I have a chance, and if I forget anything in this tape while make comments in a later letter. Again, I'm thankful that you had a safe trip, but even more so, I'm thankful that you were all able to have the experiences that you did while you were in Chicago.
I know that you would have liked to stay there longer, and imagine Cathy and Andrea just barely got reacquainted again and the two Tommies, but I think it's tremendous that you had the opportunity that you did, and it's probably something that none of you will forget for quite some time. I wish so much that I could have been there with you and experience some of the things that that you experienced while you were there. I was especially interested in the Reiner case, because, as I mentioned in a letter, I did meet the man. The pastor took me to the headquarters there, where he had his office, and I was equally impressed with the man's sincerity and ability, although it was just a brief visit that I had with him. Cathy, I also got your letter today, and I want to thank you for being so thoughtful in writing to me. I'll try to get a letter off to you again very soon. I can just see everyone when you've got as far as Topeka being all tired from the trip, and Arlene and Gary, having just arrived, also tired from the trip, I'm sure it was a very bedraggled looking group, but sounds like they had a great time, too. I didn't realize.
I guess I'd heard it before, too, but I didn't realize that Gary was going to make the races. And I'm sure this is something that he will remember for a long time too, especially since Goodyear came out the winner in the winning car, Tommy, I enjoyed hearing about the play that you children put on just a little bit dismayed though, that my son already out ranks me. I had no idea that you had general potential. But I guess one should never underestimate one's own children. Doug, from the sound of things, you have an acting career lined up for you. So I want to wish you a lot of luck. What do you think, Doug, is it more fun to be a cowboy or more fun to be an Indian? It's kind of fun to take turns, isn't it?
I feel for you coming home in a very hot house after leaving when it was cool and then experiencing cool weather up in Chicago too. I. I hope that by now the air conditioner has been fixed. It sounds like maybe the compressor wasn't running, or that perhaps the Freon had leaked out, or something like that. I hope that the thing will do a satisfactory job anyway, in your living room, since the basement is cool, that roll, that living room, will be the prime room that you want to get cool, but I'm sure that will leave a lot to be desired, especially in your upstairs bedrooms.
Our temperatures here continue to be very mild. We have this cloud cover come in about every afternoon, and the temperatures have been going to approximately 80-85, degrees, and the nights are comfortable. So I really have no complaints at all about the weather up here.
Down in La Drang(?), where I'll be going tomorrow, the humidity is very high, and the temperatures get quite a bit warmer. There's probably not much higher than the lower 90s. But with the high humidity, the heat becomes quite overbearing, very similar to Florida and Montgomery.
I suppose this conference that I'm supposed to go to is not a very long one. It's on the subject of artillery and the coordination that's affected between the various artillery units and the desk and making sure that airplanes don't get shot down as they fly in the vicinity of artillery positions. I really don't know too much about the subject, and it's more matter of me getting enlightened, rather than contributing much to the conference. I'm going to leave at 7:30 tomorrow morning. We'll be going in an army airplane and old slow army airplane, and hopefully the conference will be over at 3:30 in the afternoon, and then I'll fly back tomorrow afternoon. So I don't get a very fat deal out of it.
I do get out of the work shift because Zeleguisi and Jim Watts are going to both take 12 hour shifts tomorrow, and the other two duty officers are still on their R and Rs. Speaking of our and ours, I still haven't heard from special services here as to the status of my R and R, but I should hear within a day or so. So I hope that we can get something firm going here, and we can start doing some planning two months to look forward to seems like quite a while, but really, the way the last two months have flown, I think it'll be be on us before we know it, especially with you, you're going to be going down to Arlene’s again for a week, and Joyce and Gene will be arriving, and I'm sure the time will fly for all of you.
I haven't seen Mike recently, so I haven't been able to find out whether he's had his honor approved for the time that he asked for or not. I think, I still think that if it works out, you were getting the idea of what I was saying. In fact, I know I didn't remember what I was saying.
In addition to your letters, today, I received a letter from my mother, and I got a big kick out of her telling about Gretchen (our dog, a standard daschund). I never did think that my mother was the type to be a person that would think of a dog, any dog, as being very smart, especially with how poorly really we've trained Gretchen. But she seemed to be quite taken with Gretchen. I'm sorry that little Johnny got bitten. I'm thankful that you had left all the records of the vet and everything, and that she had a rabies shot so we didn't have that worry.
I guess you should make it a practice of taking her out occasionally when she needs the bath. Anyway, you'd be sure that she'd be taken care of. Mom said she expected Gretchen to smell a lot better after the bath, but didn't help much.
You said you were bad about jumping around from subject to subject Ruth, but I think I'd do even better getting back to your trip again. I really am impressed by the physical plant.
There at your uncle Walt's church in Rantool. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that in real life, and I would love to be able to go through that area and see it sometime too. I was glad that you also got to see Springfield there and the historical aspects of that city.
I just would like to go through that part of the country and see all the nice looking farms and everything, although I'm sorry that there had so much rain and got their fields washed out, I suppose, with all of the hot weather that you're having there at home now that the wheat is going to do some pretty rapid development now in filling up and changing color, so harvest will probably be upon you in about three weeks.
Now back to the Hrbeks, I was trying to explain to Jim Watts here tonight a little about the Hrbeks and the type of people they are. But you know, you find yourself just completely lacking in descriptive powers, in describing the contrast between Gert and pastor, and still, the devotion that is common in both of them to their cause and to life in general.
I'm glad that you got in and all this deep discussions, and I hope that even though it's very difficult to remember all these things with a time lag and conversing with each other, and I hope that when I get back that we will be able to have some of these discussions on a family level and arrive at some of our own conclusions.
Of course, it's the old thing. If you want to come up with some sound conclusions, you have to keep yourself pretty well informed. And I'm afraid that I have been lacking in that department. You mentioned the one young man with the beads. I can't really visualize them being there in the Hrbek household. But then I again, just about anyone could fit into that group. And I guess that's the marvelous thing.
I was impressed by what you said, the church service they had. It sounds like the same service that I was used to participating in, where everyone really felt the part of what was going on. And this, I'm sure, is that is the feeling that can't be matched in a large congregation, such as your uncle Walt's, you have the beautiful organ and the choirs and all the fancy appointments. But where does it leave your heart. And although I'm sure that there is much serious thought and work going on in your uncle Walt's congregation too, or I'm not just singling out his, but in any large congregation such as Russell, still, I don't think you can find in any of these places the type of feeling that comes along with the close personal relationship that you have in a congregation like in Chicago.
Of course, we have to realize too that there are not enough pastors to permit all congregations to be of this size, although we again go back To the thought that it takes the pastor in order to give the impetus, when really we as lay people should have a very important part in this type of effort. I was surprised that the two girls are still staying there and. Uh, I guess the one I forgot, even forget their names, I've listened to your tape again. But the older one, I guess, is just using this as her room and boarding place. And when I met her, I thought she was not really aloof, but she she kind of kept to herself a little bit more than than the younger one. What do you think their feelings are about staying in Chicago? Do you think that they will be happy to see this three years over?
Of course, I'm sure they'll have mixed emotions too, but I'm just wondering what in the world he will do, whether he will go back into the active ministry, which I can't see him doing, or whether he will go into some further active for the social ministry and perhaps a government function.
Ruth, by the time you get this, you should have been married 14 years. I just want to ask you what it feels like to to be married for 14 years. I tried to tell you in my letter a little how I felt, but I think I need to tell you on this tape too, that I just think you're the most wonderful wife any man could ask for, and I hope that the next 14, 28 years and more will be every bit as happy as the ones in the past 14 years, because they've just been wonderful.
Cathy Tom Doug, appreciate all your fine participation on the last tape, and keep up the good work. I didn't comment on the piano work. Most of it sounded pretty good, and I know that when you really were all practiced up, that it must have sounded real good. I just want you to not give up during the summer here, but keep practicing.
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