Brian D. Allgood

West Point, 1982

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by LTC (R) Craig Fox on February 5, 2007:

Colonel Brian Duane Allgood's Eulogy Soldiers' Memorial Chapel Fort Carson, Colorado 2 February 2007 Jane and Wyatt; COL and Mrs. Allgood; Becky and Bradley; family and friends. We are here today not to mourn Brian's passing, but to celebrate his life and acknowledge the impact he had on all of us. Brian Doowayne Allgood. Yes we could actually get away with calling him that on occasion. He was the ultimate Soldier, Warrior, Doctor, Father, Son, Husband and friend. He was my Best Friend. I don't know that I really like that term, "Best Friend". It seems to denote a point of singularity. I don't profess ownership of Brian's friendship. He was the kind of person who was a Best Friend to each and every one of us who knew him. To us it is better stated that we are the Best of Friends. We can have good friends from other times of our lives but the connection is just not the same as those who are brothers in arms. I am talking about friends that you haven't seen for five or ten years, but when you are with them it seems as though you were never apart. Brian was just such a friend. COL and Mrs. Allgood, thank you for raising such a fine son. Brian was the fiercest competitor that we have ever known, yet at the same time possessed such a kind soul, dedicating his life to helping others. We also want to thank you for the graciousness that you have extended to us all during our many visits to your home. Many of you may not know that Brian was a very good practical joker. It started early in his life. I remember him telling me of when he was young and a prank that he played on his younger brother, Bradley. Sorry Bradley, but I have to tell this story. Brian told me of how he had taken a bottle of Tabasco sauce from the kitchen cabinet and told Bradley that it was Mom's special cherry sauce. He said that he would let Bradley have a teaspoon full for a taste if he would only promise not to tell Mom. Sometimes it is unfortunate being the little brother, at least that's what my little brother tells me. At West Point his skills flourished. When we were roommates, we played a prank on the plebes next door by turning all of their furniture upside down. He was also the creator of the skunk bomb. Following breakfast, Brian would return with doughnuts which he would save until the evening hours. There was a hill behind our barracks and at night he would throw a few doughnuts to attract the skunks. Once a skunk appeared he would throw another doughnut to cause it to emit its perfume. Of course I was ready to quickly close our window. Then we would sit back and laugh as we heard curses and windows slamming shut throughout the rest of the barracks. We remember when Brian, who would eventually stress good nutrition, was trying to make weight for intramural wrestling as a plebe. He would forgo smaller portions of nutritional food and instead sit through an entire meal and have only the dessert. Brian would do whatever it took to maintain a competitive edge, but sometimes he just had to stop and enjoy a good dessert. During our senior year our Tactical Officer, Major McKean, was friends with the West Point dietician. She was at a party at the McKean's house one weekend when Brian suggested we should have C-rations for one of the dinner meals during Army-Navy week. It was one of those suggestions that seemed like such a good idea at the time. That night the C-rations emerged and the first food items to fly were the C-Ration crackers--all over the mess hall. Soon the cocoa beverage packets followed, with one corner of the package strategically removed, showering cocoa powder all over the Mess Hall. I think that was the first and last time C-rations were served for dinner in the West Point Mess Hall. After graduation it was off to Brian and Jane's beautiful wedding at Walter Reed where I had the privilege to serve as Brian's Best Man. Brian's sister Becky was Jane's Maid of Honor. Brian and Becky always had a close relationship. When they were younger, they had adjoining bedrooms and neither one of them would go to sleep until Brian signaled that it was OK by tapping on the wall. Becky returned the signal and it was safe to go to sleep. Years later, Brian, Jane, Carol and I spent a lovely week on the Caribbean island of St Kitts. For Carol and I, it was our belated honeymoon and for all of us, an escape from the military grind. Little did we know that at the same time there was a major military exercise on the island which was awash with helicopters, C-130s and Special Forces soldiers. Carol and I visited Brian and Jane when they lived at Ft. Benning, Georgia just after Brian had participated in an airborne combat operation into Panama during Operation Just Cause. During our late night conversations, I recall his anguish over the Rangers who lost their lives during that operation. Brian was a man who deeply cared for others. When I was deployed on Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm with the 5th Special Forces Group, Brian did an outstanding job ensuring that my wife Carol was taken care of while I was away. Brian was the God Father of our second daughter Rebecca who was born while I was deployed. On our next trip with Brian and Jane we visited our classmate Tom Westfall and his wife Patty in Rio de Janeiro. It was a perfect vacation even though Brian consistently smoked us on our runs. After 12 years in service, Brain and I had the good fortune of being stationed together at Ft Bragg. As you all know, just because you are at the same post doesn't mean that you have more time to spend together, although we shared each other's company whenever possible. At the time, I was a new Company Commander in the 3d Special Forces group and was preparing for an airborne assault into Haiti. Brian was the Division Orthopedic Surgeon for the 82d Airborne Division. During one of the preparatory jumps I had broken one of my toes upon landing. Now I knew that you can't really do anything for a broken toe, but my wife Carol thought that she would ask Brian for his orthopedic assessment, to which he simply replied "my medical opinion is to suck it up". We will always remember our gatherings in the Allgood's kitchen while Jane was making her outstanding homemade pizzas and our kids were playing in the back yard. Jane gave me the recipe, but I have never been able to make a pizza as well as she did at Ft Bragg. I also remember a time when Brian brought Wyatt over to our house to play with our son Matthew. Matthew was three and Wyatt was two. They were playing on the side of our house with the hose and had created a rather nice mud hole and ended up covered in mud from head to toe. We told Brian that Jane would not be pleased and cleaned up Wyatt as best we could, but never heard anything from it. Twenty years after graduating from United States Military Academy, Brian and Jane were living at West Point and hosted the Good Dudes--the nick-name for our I-1 classmates, for our 20th reunion. At the time, Brian was serving as the Hospital Commander. We all had a great time at their home reminiscing about our time at the Academy as Cadets. The following summer the Allgoods hosted the Fox's retirement tour. I wanted to have some retirement photographs of myself and our children at Trophy Point; and, Jane was our able photographer. Again, it was a great time--having dinner outside with our children and watching Wyatt and Matthew play in the woods. Jane, thank you for being such a great friend, wife of Brian and loving mother. We will always cherish the wonderful times that we had with you, Brian and Wyatt, and we cherish even more the time we can share with you and Wyatt now and the fond memories of your truly great partner in life. As I ponder last week, I must tell you that I felt very lost. I have never felt like that in my life and was totally empty upon hearing of Brian's loss. I blew off going to the gym -- but felt that Brian was calling me to run with him, as we had run together so many times before. While running, I thought about how Brian had always smoked me and our friends on any run. My fastest time on the two mile run test was around 12 minutes, while Brian always ran under 10. It dawned on me during that run, the special talent that Brian had as a leader. Whenever we ran with him, he never really smoked anyone. That is he never took us to the point of failure. He always made us run faster than we thought we could. That was Brian's skill. He brought out the best effort from everyone that he met. That was what made him the consummate leader. He was able to help us better ourselves. Wyatt, this ceremony has particular significance for you, because it allows you to hear about the tremendous example your father provided and to know that he was a great man. I have known many great men, but your father was the best. He was always so very proud of you. This ceremony provides the opportunity to reinforce the commitment that I have to you, as do all of his closest friends, who from now on will consider you as one of our sons, and we will be there for you for the rest of our lives. We all know that Brian is up there watching this ceremony and saying thank you for your tribute and your kind words, thoughts and prayers. But he would also tell us that it's time to "ruck up and move out". He would want us to expend our grief today, so that we can move forward with our lives tomorrow. Brian Duane Allgood, Soldier, Warrior, Doctor, Father, Son, Husband and friend. He is our Best Friend and will live in us until we meet him again. Well done Brian, be thou at peace. LTC (Ret) Craig Fox Company I-1 Class of 1982

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