The Allgoods: Vietnam Through the Eyes of Love

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This letter might not look like much on the surface — it’s short, it’s simple, and nothing dramatic is happening. But that’s what makes it hit me.

My dad wrote this to my mom, Sarah, on a slow Monday in Vietnam. He’d been on alert all day, but nothing happened. He couldn’t get through to her by phone even though he tried and tried. So instead, he picked up a pen — again — and poured out his love the best way he could. He calls her “my precious,” “wittle chick-a-dee,” and signs it “Your huby,” like he always did.

He asks if she’s going to be happy as a wife and mom, away from the hospital for a while. He doesn’t make any demands — he just wonders. And he loves her. That’s it. That’s the whole letter: I love you. I miss you. I’m trying to get through to you.

It’s the kind of quiet letter I might have skipped over before starting this project. But now I see it for what it is — a man trying to hold on to the woman he loves from halfway across the world.

This is letter 88 of their year apart, and I’m reading it for the first time now — out loud — so it can finally be heard.

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

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In this letter from June 21, 1971, Sarah writes to Dick after a crushing disappointment: the tape he sent her snapped halfway through playback. She had waited eagerly to hear his voice—only to cry for over an hour when it broke. The rain outside mirrors the ache inside as she describes waking up and instinctively reaching for him, forgetting for a moment that he’s still so far away.

Still, her love is steady. She promises she’ll always be his wife, his “wittle chickie-dee,” the mother of his baby. She updates him on finances, vents about work, and finds moments of kindness even in her exhaustion. But what stands out is the emotional intimacy—they’re apart, but they keep showing up for each other in words.

This is letter number 87 in their yearlong exchange while Dick is deployed to Vietnam. It’s a reminder that even broken tapes can’t silence the kind of love they shared.

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 past midnight in Vietnam, and Captain Dick Allgood has just stayed up trying to reach his wife Sarah by phone — again.

They haven’t spoken in more than two weeks. But instead of going to sleep, he writes. Because he misses her. Because he wants her to know that she’s his home.

This letter is raw and real — filled with longing, worry, hope, and the kind of love most people never find.

He calls her his wittle chickie. He asks about her pregnancy symptoms and reassures her that even though he’s far away now, he won’t miss watching their baby grow up. He promises their love will radiate through their children and their home.

And then he says it outright:

“My home is wherever you are. In the not too distant future, where I am, you will be. That will be home, Baby.”

Dick doesn’t just want to hear her voice — he wants to build a life with her. And this letter is his way of closing the distance, if only for a little while.

This is Letter 86 of over 1,500.

💌 Follow the journey at theallgoodslove.com

❤️ Support the project at patreon.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

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It’s Sunday, June 20, 1971 — Father’s Day — and Captain Dick Allgood hasn’t been able to reach his wife Sarah on the phone for over two weeks.

So around noon, while on alert in Vietnam, he picks up a pen and does the next best thing: he writes.

This isn’t a long emotional letter — just a midday check-in. A note. A moment of connection. He talks about their bank accounts, her loan, their shared budget, her travel plans to Miami — and yes, how much he loves her.

It’s simple, loving, and real.

He tells her to write check totals in each letter so he can “keep up with the books.” He calls her his wittle chick-a-dee. He tells her not to start any charge accounts and reminds her their money is no longer yours and mine — it’s ours.

And he promises that the horny letter is coming later that night.

This is what love looked like in the summer of 1971 — when two Captains in the U.S. Air Force, both college-educated and newly expecting their first child, were doing the best they could to stay close from half a world apart.

It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t performative. It was real partnership — rooted in humor, tenderness, and deep care for one another’s daily lives.

This is Letter 85 of over 1,500.

📬 Follow along at theallgoodslove.com

❤️ Support the journey at patreon.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

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It’s Father’s Day, June 20, 1971. And for the first time in writing, Sarah tells Dick what they’d both been hoping: he’s going to be a father.

She’s writing from Texas. He’s flying rescue missions in Vietnam. They are thousands of miles apart — but what’s between them is something rare and unshakable. This isn’t just about becoming parents. It’s about a love that’s real. True. Equal.

Sarah writes about a long day on call, the letter that didn’t arrive, and the one that finally did. She jokes about her growing chest and a 36 double D bra that surprisingly fit. She’s “seepy” and drained — but she pours everything into this letter: gratitude, hope, raw honesty, and love.

This is the 84th letter they exchanged during their year apart — one of over 1,500.

And today, their daughter — the baby Sarah was carrying — reads it aloud more than 50 years later.

Because this wasn’t just war and waiting.

This was a love story.

💌 Follow along at theallgoodslove.com

❤️ Support the journey at patreon.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

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This is the 30th letter my parents exchanged since my dad left for Vietnam 54 days ago — and it still manages to surprise me.

It’s June 19, 1971. My dad, Captain Dick Allgood, is in Vietnam. But instead of writing about danger or despair, he’s writing about fireworks, roast beef sandwiches, and how badly he wants my mom — in every possible way.

It’s raw. It’s deeply personal. And as their daughter, reading it isn’t always easy. But it’s part of a love story that defies the war that surrounded it. A story that’s rewriting what I thought I knew about both Vietnam… and my parents.

Follow the journey at theallgoodslove.com

Support the project: patreon.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

It’s June 19th, 1971, and Sarah is in full pregnancy mode — craving coconut cream custard, upgrading her bra size (34DD, thank you very much), and missing Dick so badly it hurts.

In this funny, raw, and tender letter, she shares everything from maternity fashion goals to her deep desire for intimacy, made even more intense by the distance between them. She dishes on her friends’ complicated relationships, vents about missing his letters, and makes it clear: their baby was made with so much love — and she can’t wait to feel close to him again.

There’s no filter here, just the honest voice of a woman in love, writing to the man she can’t stop thinking about.

Follow the story at theallgoodslove.com

Support the journey: patreon.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

In this letter from June 18, 1971, my dad, Dick, has just received a bundle of mail from my mom — three letters, a card, and a poem book — and he reads and rereads every word. It’s been days since he heard from her, and nearly two weeks since they’ve been able to talk on the phone — a gap that feels unimaginable today.

In this quiet moment of reflection, surrounded by war, he makes a decision that will shape the rest of his life — and mine: he’s going to leave the Air Force.

He could’ve stayed in. He could’ve retired after 20 years with security, a pension, and steady promotions. But that path meant more time away from my mom, more remote tours, more lonely stretches without letters or calls. And he couldn’t accept that.

So he chose the harder road — civilian life. Uncertainty. Starting over. All because he loved my mom so much, he couldn’t imagine spending one more day apart than absolutely necessary.

He writes about wanting to work hard, raise a family, and build a life they would choose together. Not one assigned by the military.

It’s a quiet letter on the surface — but underneath is the weight of a life-altering decision, made not for ambition, but for love. The kind of love that sacrifices comfort for closeness. The kind that chooses presence over promotion. The kind that builds a future.

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 letter from June 18, 1971, my mom, Sarah, is having a quiet day in San Antonio. She’s pregnant, seepy, and missing my dad in all the little ways — especially his cooking.

She tries to recreate one of his signature breakfast sandwiches — bacon, eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato — but admits it’s just not the same. “Mine get soggy,” she writes. “Yours never did.”

That one line hits me. Because years later, after Vietnam and his time in commercial finance, my dad opened Allgood’s Bar & Grill in Big Sky, Montana. He ran it for 18 years. It wasn’t just a restaurant — it was a community landmark. The kind of place where his recipes, and his way of making people feel seen, turned meals into memories.

He was awarded the U.S. Air Medal for his rescue missions in Vietnam, and decades later, the Montana Congressional Veteran Commendation for continuing to serve others long after his time in uniform.

But in this moment — in 1971 — he was just her husband. The one who made the perfect sandwich. The one she missed too much to go out with friends. The one she hoped might call that night.

This letter is a quiet portrait of longing, love, and the beginnings of a legacy that would one day feed far more than just 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

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Follow along at TheAllgoodsLove.com

Support the show at Patreon.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