A letter from Patty Stephens, Allen's wife, dated March 4, 2009:

Allen must have moved to Tampa the summer of 1964. There he lived with his grandmother, Sallie Allen, or "Big Mama" as he lovingly called her. She was a lovely Southern lady who was not at all big in size, but very big in heart. Then he started classes at the University of Tampa in the fall of '64. I met Allen the beginning of the second semester, as we were waiting in line to register for classes. It was love at first sight for both of us. The phrase "tall, dark and handsome" described Allen perfectly. But besides that, he was the sweetest guy I had ever met, very loving, caring and thoughtful. After that semester, Allen enlisted in the army rather than wait to be drafted, and I attended the Business University of Tampa.
 
Allen had training in South Carolina and Fort Benning, Georgia, and became a paratrooper. We wrote to each other constantly, and he came to visit at my family's home in Largo as often as he could. We married November 19, 1966, a really beautiful wedding. We lived together for a short time at his base at Fort Benning. In January, 1967, we flew to Ojai, to his family's home, and it was then that I found out he had orders to go to Vietnam. He had stalled as long as he could in telling me. By that time we suspected I was pregnant, but it was too early to be able to prove it. I remember riding with Allen in the back seat of his parents' car, on the way to the base in San Francisco, in the darkness. It was the longest ride in the world, and yet not long enough, before we had to say good-bye to each other. I returned to Largo, Florida, to live with my parents and four sisters until his hoped for return. Our life together had been a true love story, just not long enough, way too short. We sent each other letters, cards, pictures. And he always needed sweetened Kool-Aid so that the water wouldn't taste so bad.
 
Around April he wrote about the almost constant rain there that had caved in the foxholes, and the heat reaching 130 degrees, and the mud; then in May, of their move to Dac To, where they expected to be at least a month. In the meantime, he had been promoted to Sergeant, of which he was very proud. Allen was killed on June 22, 1967, in what was named the "Battle of the Slopes". His company, Company A, ended up being surrounded by the enemy and under heavy assault, on the mountainside when night fell. Two other companies were set to rescue them in the morning, but the North Vietnamese Army troops swarmed and killed them before that was possible. 76 men were killed that night. A good friend of Allen's, SSg Rickey Sanchez, wrote to Allen's mother, "It's hard for me to say what really happened, it still seems like a nightmare. But I can tell you that you can be very proud of your son...They died fighting hard and fighting for freedom like we have ourselves in the good old U.S.A. ...It's a hard war, and sometimes you even think God has forgotten you but you keep driving on for guys like those 76 who are no longer here. Allen was hit one time at the first part of the fight but he stayed and kept fighting with the rest of us when he could have gone back to the rear, when I saw him again later on he had passed away...I'm very sorry he had to die but I think he died like a real American man fighting so his child could live in peace in the future to come." It was a very touching letter and described Allen's loyalty and determination, and another friend wrote, "when the chips are down and you know you are in pure hell, you all share the load of fighting your way out." As you can see, Allen was truly a hero.
 
To say I missed Allen terribly would have been a complete understatement. Being in shock, there are things I don't remember. Our daughter, Deborah Ann Stephens, was born August 16, 1967, even though she wasn't due until September. Allen loved children and had been very much looking forward to our baby.  He actually had wanted a girl, and I wanted a boy who would be just like him. Besides Debbie, his surviving family members were his mother and stepfather Jackie and Julio Fernandez, his sisters Linda and Toni Fernandez, grandmothers Sallie Allen and Juliana Alfonso, Grandfather Rupert A. Tuten and two aunts and uncles, all of Florida. Our daughter Debbie married and has two daughters, Holly and Christy, our grandchildren.
 
Allen posthumously received several awards, including the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, as well as the Military Merit Medal and the Gallantry Cross with Palm from the Republic of Vietnam.
 
I know this is a long email, so you are welcome to use any or all of it, as well as the obituaries. I do also remember going back to Ojai after Debbie was born, because a trophy case at Nordhoff High School was dedicated in Allen's honor, probably in 1968.
 
Thank you again for all the time and work you are doing for his memorial page for the reunion. If you need anything else, please let me know.
 
Patty Stephens

Post script from Patty Stephens:

"...Even though we were together for a relatively short time, I feel very blessed to have known Allen, and the luckiest girl in the world to have been his wife. "

           Patty and Allen in 1965 at the University of Tampa

           Mr. and Mrs. Allen Stephens - Wedding Day November 19, 1966

           Daughter Debbie 5 months and Mother Patty

           Debbie 3 years old and Patty in 1970