“Fuck the Air Force & Wilford Hall” — May 29, 1971
Send us a text This isn’t your typical Vietnam War letter. On May 29, 1971, my father—Captain Dick Allgood—wrote to my mother from Bien Hoa Air Base. She was thousands of miles away, working long hours as a military nurse at Wilford Hall in San Antonio and newly pregnant with me. And he was scared. Scared for her health, for the baby, for the pace she was keeping while he could do nothing but write from across the world. In this letter, his love takes the shape of fierce protectiveness: “Yo...
This isn’t your typical Vietnam War letter.
On May 29, 1971, my father—Captain Dick Allgood—wrote to my mother from Bien Hoa Air Base. She was thousands of miles away, working long hours as a military nurse at Wilford Hall in San Antonio and newly pregnant with me. And he was scared. Scared for her health, for the baby, for the pace she was keeping while he could do nothing but write from across the world.
In this letter, his love takes the shape of fierce protectiveness: “You and our Baby are the Number One most precious things in this world. Fuck the Air Force & Wilford Hall.” He didn’t care about protocol. He cared about us. He was asking her to stop pushing so hard, to stay safe, and to believe that his daily letters would never stop coming.
Even in a war zone, he still jokes about skin flicks, mushy posters, and how much he adores his “whittle chick-a-dee.” But underneath it all is a man who had no control over the world except the pages he sent home.
Fifty years later, as their daughter reading these words, I’m stunned by how raw and honest this letter is. And how loved I already was, even before I was born.
The Allgoods: Vietnam Through the Eyes of Love is a personal podcast project based on real letters exchanged between Capt. Richard Allgood and Capt. Sarah Allgood during the Vietnam War. Photos of the original letters, family snapshots, and behind-the-scenes commentary are available for supporters.
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