The Allgoods: Vietnam Through the Eyes of Love

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My dad could always sniff out a good deal—and he was pretty proud of the pair of giant speakers he picked up at the BX in Vietnam for a steal. He didn’t have anything to play through them yet, but that didn’t stop him from planning for the life they’d build together.

But the real heart of this letter is the dream he shares: watching my mom brush her hair in front of the mirror while he sat on their bed. It’s soft, vivid, and full of love.

My dad could come off as tough or gruff sometimes, but this is the side of him I’ll never forget—the one who wrote, “Each day, each touch, all of our loves.”

Even in a war zone, he was already dreaming of home.

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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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On July 7, 1971, my mom was officially discharged from the Air Force. At 30 years old, pregnant with me, she became a dependent wife — no longer an officer, no longer in uniform, and no longer working long hospital shifts. In this letter, you can hear her exhale. She writes about discharge pay, a sandwich and Nehi grape soda, and how much better she feels knowing she’s finally home for good.

She also made a deal with the mailman — Joe — who agreed to take her letters each morning to make sure they made the 2:00 PM mail. Even he noticed how much my dad wrote. He said most men didn’t write like that. She just smiled and said they were in love.

And they were — so much so that they wrote each other nearly every day. There are hundreds of letters in this collection, maybe more. I’ve only just begun reading them, and I’m trying to share their story one letter at a time.

This project is bigger than I expected — and more emotional than I ever imagined. I haven’t had a single supporter yet, but I’m still here, reading and recording daily. If you’re listening, I would truly love to hear from you. Send a message or text just to say hello — or to let me know what you’d like to see beyond the podcast. Would you like scans of the original letters? More photos? A place to talk about the story?

Just knowing someone’s out there walking through it with me would mean 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

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It’s Sarah’s last full day of work in the Air Force, and everyone shows up to send her off. From enlisted techs to commissioned officers, they take her to the NCO Club, buy her beer, and give her a card that makes her cry. She drinks more than usual — martinis, pink ladies, Kahlúa — and writes to Dick while still a little buzzed. She’s tired, emotional, and deeply grateful.

This is the only letter from July 6. Dick doesn’t write again for a few days — likely because he sent audio tapes from Vietnam that are now lost

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

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It’s July 5, 1971, and my mom—Captain Sarah Allgood—is writing from San Antonio in the middle of a hot summer day. My dad, Captain Dick Allgood, was stationed at a real wartime airbase in Da Nang, Vietnam. He’d just sent her a steamy Special Delivery letter, and she’s responding the only way she knows how: with longing, humor, and another quarter in the kitty.

She writes about the ordinary things—boiled eggs, soap operas, pizza with neighbors, sunbathing in her “wittle pregnant jobbies.” She’s still prepping her uniforms, watching I Love Lucy, and dreaming of their reunion.

My mom looked like Cher—long black hair, tall, striking—and she was always dressed to the nines. She used to joke that she put on lipstick before bed so she could wake up looking good. That was her—beautiful, magnetic, elegant, and grounded.

My dad was calm, golden, and focused—the kind of man they called “The Eagle.”

Together, they created a life in letters. This is what real love looked like in 1971. This is what got them through.

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

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n today’s letter from July 5, 1971, my dad writes from Vietnam after a full day on alert—“no real action or excitement,” he says. But I can’t help wondering if that’s the truth, or just the version he was allowed—or willing—to share.

Like so many servicemen during the war, he may have been trained not to say too much. But what he does write is full of emotion: he misses her, he misses the baby she’s carrying, and he longs for the day he can finally touch her again.

He tells her, “The miles are getting closer.”

And maybe they were. But for now, they’re still writing across an ocean—holding their love together one letter at a time.

—

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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

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On July 4, 1971, Captain Sarah Allgood wrote two letters to her husband, Captain Dick Allgood. She was pregnant, stationed in San Antonio, and just days away from separating from the Air Force. It was a holiday they normally spent together — with ribs, potato salad, and each other. But this year, they were apart.

In her morning letter, she’s seepy, playful, and full of longing. By midday, she’s trying to make the most of the day but can’t shake the weight of missing him. She skips the party at her apartment complex, stays home, and pours her heart into the page — horny, honest, hilarious, and deeply in love.

These two letters show the full range of who she was — and how much she needed him. Even on a day meant for celebration, her joy was wrapped up in one thing: being with her husband.

—

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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

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On July 4, 1971, my dad, Captain Dick Allgood, writes from Vietnam with his heart on full display. His letter isn’t about fireworks or freedom — it’s about the kind of love that endures across oceans, months, and war. He tells my mom, Captain Sarah Allgood, how much he misses her, aches for her, and still remembers the exact week they fell deeply in love.

Even in the middle of a war zone, he affirms his loyalty, defends the sacredness of their love, and promises to never touch another woman — not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and wholly.

Their marriage was far from ordinary. It was chosen, every day, even when separated by time zones and silence. And reading these letters now, decades later, I see a love that was tender, defiant, and unshakably true.

—

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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

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It’s been 68 days since my dad left for Vietnam. And in that time, my parents have been writing constantly — sometimes more than once a day. These letters were their lifeline, their only way to stay connected across distance, danger, and everything they were missing in between.

In this one, my mom writes about sewing a maternity swimsuit to fit her “wittle pregnant belly,” skipping dinner plans because of the Texas heat, and just wanting to stay in. It’s full of the kind of day-to-day life updates you’d text someone if you could. But they couldn’t — so she wrote it all out, so he’d still feel close.

She also mentions a baby shower for someone named Lynn Zima — and I find myself wondering what kind of shower she’ll have for me. That’s one of the hardest things about reading these letters: realizing just how much he missed.

There’s also a mention of Grandma Gladden — my great-grandmother Pearl — someone I never really knew. Reading that name in my mom’s handwriting brings me closer to family I want to know more about. I’ve met some relatives on both sides of the family, but there’s still so much I don’t know. Through these letters, and through the photos and stories tucked away with them, I’m beginning to piece together more of the Allgood and Gladden family history — and I look forward to reconnecting and learning more.

If you’re listening, thank you. This project has become something I didn’t expect — a way to grieve, to heal, and to finally understand where I come from.

💌

Read more or support the project at theallgoodslove.com

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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

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This letter from my dad, written on July 3, 1971, is full of tenderness, memory, and quiet ache. He’s writing from Vietnam — still on alert, still in danger — but what he talks about is baking brownies, missing my mom, and planning where to send her letters when she travels to Miami.

He turned down a regular commission with the Air Force — a stable, lifelong career — because he never wanted to be separated from her again. That’s the kind of love they had.

In this letter, he mentions a little wooden box he made to store her letters. I’m holding that very box now — the same one I found all of their letters in, decades later. It’s hard to believe that after all these years, I can hold what they held, touch what they touched.

And some nights — like this one — I realize I’m still grieving them. I have a good partner. I’ve built a full life. But the kind of love they shared… I don’t know anyone else who has it.

My dad also talks about cooking in this letter — another thread that ran through his whole life. After Vietnam, after commercial finance and real estate, he opened Allgood Bar & Grill because he loved it so much. That’s who he was.

If you’re listening, thank you for being part of this journey. These letters show me who my parents really were — not just to each other, but to the world.

💌

Read more or support the project at theallgoodslove.com

☕ Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/TheAllgoodsLove

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

On July 2, 1971, my mom, Captain Sarah Allgood, wrote two letters to my dad — both on the same day, but in completely different moods.

The first one came after her three-month pregnancy checkup. She writes with excitement and relief — she’s healthy, the baby is growing, and her doctor is supportive of traveling to Miami for R&R. She shares flight plans, military red tape, and sweet memories of past Fourth of Julys with my dad.

The second letter came late that night — after a long evening of drinks, parties, and laughter. She’s buzzed, tired, and still completely devoted. She describes everything she wore and everyone she saw… but always circles back to how much she misses him. There’s a mix of sass, tenderness, and deep longing in every line.

Together, these two letters show just how much my mom was juggling — her pregnancy, her separation, her military career, and her need to stay emotionally connected to her husband across the world.

This is love in real time.

This is The Allgoods: Vietnam Through the Eyes of Love.

—

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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