June 14, 1971: For My Baby, My Sheets, and No One Else
Send us a text In this Father’s Day episode, I read a letter my dad, Captain Dick Allgood, wrote to my mom, Captain Sarah Allgood, on June 14, 1971, while on alert in Vietnam. The day before, he was dreaming of sunshine. Today, he’s dreaming of her — her body, her scent, her softness — and the baby they had planned together before he deployed. That baby was me. Sarah was still serving in the Air Force then, working as a nurse while newly pregnant and exhausted. In this letter, Dick reflects...
In this Father’s Day episode, I read a letter my dad, Captain Dick Allgood, wrote to my mom, Captain Sarah Allgood, on June 14, 1971, while on alert in Vietnam. The day before, he was dreaming of sunshine. Today, he’s dreaming of her — her body, her scent, her softness — and the baby they had planned together before he deployed. That baby was me.
Sarah was still serving in the Air Force then, working as a nurse while newly pregnant and exhausted. In this letter, Dick reflects on how much he wishes he could be with her for all of it — the ups, the downs, the daily details. He didn’t get a letter from her that day, but he did hear from both sets of parents, and he was especially touched by the velvet-rimmed cards she had sent.
He jokes tenderly about their private “quarter bank” — a system they made up to tally each time they took care of their needs alone — and insists no one else could ever compare to her. He rearranges his room, rereads her letters, and imagines a future where her full-time job is caring for their baby and their marriage.
It’s a letter full of longing and loyalty, tenderness and teasing — but above all, it’s about the quiet, growing reality of fatherhood.
This Father’s Day, I honor my dad by reading his words aloud — the words of a man who already loved his child before he ever held her.
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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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