The Allgoods: Vietnam Through the Eyes of Love

Send us Fan Mail

In this brief second letter from July 21, 1971, Captain Dick Allgood sends a tender note addressed to Miami—though his wife Sarah hasn’t even left Texas yet. He’s thinking ahead, making sure a love letter will be waiting for her when she arrives later that month. It’s short, affectionate, and full of quiet hope for the life they’re building—possibly even in Miami. He signs off with the kind of devotion that never took a day off.

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

In this July 21, 1971 special delivery letter from Vietnam, Captain Dick Allgood writes to his wife, Sarah, with two things on his mind: their future stereo system—and how much he adores her. He describes taping hours of music, explains the mechanics of their new tape deck, and jokes that he bought a simple model “so I can’t fuck it up.” But beneath the humor and hi-fi plans is something deeper: unshakable love and pride. He calls Sarah his “wittle chick-a-dee” and ends the letter by saying he has something no one can take away—pride in their love.

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

It’s July 20, 1971, and Captain Dick Allgood is writing from Vietnam to his wife Sarah in San Antonio. With just seven days to go before her Miami trip — and less than two months until their R&R reunion — both are counting the days.

In this letter, Dick is physically tired from flying missions but emotionally steady and unwavering in his devotion. He reacts to Sarah’s updates about a failing marriage between mutual friends, Mike and Nancy, and makes it clear: that will never be them. His love is real, faithful, and constant. He flirts, he reassures, and he tells her to take care of herself — especially as she prepares to travel.

And in the middle of it all, he delivers a phrase that captures both their humor and their passion:

“I groove so good to you.

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

Sarah Allgood is counting down the days until she boards a plane for Miami — and just 49 more until R&R in Hawaii. In today’s letter, she shares her travel plans, reassures Dick about her pregnancy, and responds to his vivid descriptions of longing. There’s humor, heat, and deep concern as she asks him — again — to please take care of himself. Because the only thing worse than waiting would be if he got sick and couldn’t come.

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

Captain Dick Allgood writes to Sarah from Vietnam on July 19, 1971, recounting a quiet day filled with small rituals — rereading her letters, walking to the BX, grabbing a hamburger and baked beans, and watching the movie Flap, starring Anthony Quinn.

The film includes a line about “getting drunk on Grasshoppers” — a sweet, minty cocktail that, years later, would become one of Sarah’s favorite drinks.

As usual, Dick ends the day with a “wittle love note,” making sure Sarah will receive letters timed just right while she’s in Miami. He checks in gently about her cramps, asks about the baby, and encourages her to speak to her doctor about sex — not for his sake, but out of care and concern.

This letter is soft, precise, and full of steady devotion — the kind of love that plans ahead.

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

Sarah Allgood writes to her husband, Captain Dick Allgood, on July 19, 1971, with her usual mix of sharp wit, practical planning, and pure devotion. She’s booking flights, paying bills, teasing him about math, and dreaming of his kisses — all while tanning by the pool and keeping his picture on her pillow at night.

In this letter, she asks what he wants for their anniversary and promises to pick out something “groovy” in Miami — maybe even a bikini. Her tone is flirtatious, funny, and grounded in loyalty. “You never have to worry about me being like Jean,” she writes. “I know what I married.”

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

In today’s letter from July 18, 1971, Captain Dick Allgood writes to his pregnant wife, Sarah, from alert duty in Vietnam. He reflects on their R&R options in Hawaii, the women in Sarah’s orbit — including friends recovering from illness and heartache — and his unwavering fidelity. What starts as a logistics update turns into one of the most vulnerable, explicit declarations of loyalty, desire, and devotion we’ve seen. It’s Dick at his most open — promising Sarah that no matter what temptations might surround him, he will return home to her “a virgin.” This is what love looks like — through the eyes of a man at 

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

This letter was written on July 18, 1971 — a quiet Sunday in San Antonio, and just a week before my mom would head to Miami to spend a month with her best friend Judy.

She’s tired, not sleeping well, and feeling the heat. She writes about waking up “seepy,” eating toast and apple juice, and trying to pass the time — first at Jack in the Box, then watching TV with Joy, and later convincing her friends to split a banana split (even though, as she jokes, they only have one mouth to feed). She steps outside just long enough to show off the stereo pictures my dad sent from Vietnam, something she’s clearly proud of.

There’s a surprise call from Dr. Newt Godfrey — a respected family surgeon who was apparently a little drunk when he decided to ring. And like so many of her letters, this one ends with longing, exhaustion, and love.

She doesn’t say it outright, but you can feel the quiet countdown starting. She’s ready to get out of town — ready for Miami, and ready for something to feel different

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

In this sweet and steady letter from July 17, 1971, Captain Dick Allgood writes to his pregnant wife, Sarah, from Vietnam — completely certain of the life they’ve built together. “You and me,” he writes, “we have found what they look for.”

He’s thinking ahead to their R&R — maybe Kona Village, maybe Waikiki — weighing the options like a man who knows his wife loves her room service. But ultimately, he doesn’t care where they go. What he wants is simple: a big bed, some privacy, and “a whole bunch of love.”

He tries to find an anniversary card but comes up short at the BX. Instead, he gives her something better: a promise of Hawaii, a sweet note about her dad’s birthday, and an update on where he’s moved the “wittle chickadee-and-I-wuv-you” statue — now watching over him from the top of his stereo speakers.

By the end, he’s soft, grounded, and full of conviction.

“You are mine. I am yours. We are the most beautiful loves in the world

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com

Send us Fan Mail

This letter from my mom, Sarah Allgood, was written on a Saturday in July 1971. She’s pregnant, missing my dad, and doing her best to make it through another weekend alone in San Antonio—while newlyweds lounge by the pool just outside her window.

She tells him about a dream that leaves her out of breath (yes, that kind of dream), shares a wild update from Tommy Anderson, and drops one of the most absurd gossip stories so far—including a clause that literally gives a woman ownership of her husband’s balls.

There’s fried chicken, rum and pineapple, a late-night movie marathon—and underneath it all, that steady, aching devotion that runs through every one of her letters.

She closes with a line I’ll never forget:

“Baby, don’t ever think I don’t need and miss you.”

And I believe her.

Support the show

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.

Support the show:

https://buymeacoffee.com/theallgoodslove

Visit the official website: https://www.theallgoodslove.com