June 17, 1971: Bureaucracy, Cookies, and a Wittle Chickadee
Send us a text In this letter from June 17, 1971, my mom — Sarah Allgood — writes from San Antonio during a whirlwind of paperwork, pregnancy fatigue, and a surprise that didn’t go quite as planned. She’s working full time as a military nurse at Lackland AFB, pregnant with me, and trying to sort out her official separation date, medical records, base briefings, and I.D. card requirements — all while making sure my dad has cookies and love letters sent to Vietnam. She vents about a clueles...
In this letter from June 17, 1971, my mom — Sarah Allgood — writes from San Antonio during a whirlwind of paperwork, pregnancy fatigue, and a surprise that didn’t go quite as planned.
She’s working full time as a military nurse at Lackland AFB, pregnant with me, and trying to sort out her official separation date, medical records, base briefings, and I.D. card requirements — all while making sure my dad has cookies and love letters sent to Vietnam.
She vents about a clueless airman, recounts rushing around base, and shares how Buck’s kids accidentally ate the cookies she’d baked for my dad. But through the chaos, her voice is so familiar: funny, sharp, warm, and totally devoted.
“I love you so much,” she writes. “I’ll be so happy when we see each other on R&R. One more day closer.”
Reading this as their daughter — knowing she was 10 weeks pregnant with me that day — it’s wild to see how much life she was balancing. She was tired. She was “seepy.” And she still poured her heart into every single word.
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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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