“Too Blessed To Be Stressed”: A Women's Army Corps Intelligence Analyst Puts The Pieces Together

CW3(R) Doris “Lucki” Allen grew up in El Paso, Texas, and in 1944 attended Tuskegee University. After graduating, and working briefly as a teacher, she joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1950. From 1951 to 1953, she served in Japan, and as a PFC was assigned as a Newspaper Editor because she was the only one in her office with a college degree. By the time she was promoted to Sergeant, she was assigned to Camp Stoneman, California, and her sister was her Company Commander. In October 1967, 17 years after she joined the Army, SPC7 Lucki Allen deployed to Vietnam, where she served until September 1970. While in Vietnam, she was appointed as a Warrant Officer, becoming one of just nine female Warrant Officers in Military Intelligence. Upon returning home from Vietnam, she was an instructor at the POW interrogation course, first at Fort Holabird, Maryland, and then at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. She retired in 1980, and then earned her PhD in Psychology and Organizational Development. In this interview, Dr. Allen discusses her childhood, her decision to join the Army, her service in Vietnam, and her life after the Army. She talks about writing a report in Vietnam that predicted the Tet Offensive of 1968, and having supervisors dismiss it because they did not believe that a WAC could put all the pieces together to predict an attack like Tet ’68. Finally, she discusses Post Traumatic Stress and summarizes her Vietnam experience, stating that she did more good than harm.