Goodbye Willa: Fort Laramie (August 19, 1956)

“Goodbye Willa” is an episode of Fort Laramie, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 19, 1956. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Captain Lee Quince returns from a six-week patrol to Fort Laramie, where he encounters Willa, a young woman who works at a local store. As the men discuss their eagerness to reunite with their families, Lee finds himself drawn to Willa and asks her to dinner, discovering an unexpected connection with someone who seems to understand him in ways he hasn't experienced before.

Fort Laramie, a cavalry outpost in the frontier West, including a campsite, a general store, and a dinner venue

Characters: Captain Lee Quince, Major, Horner, Furnace, Willa, Mrs. Doolittle

Listen for: The contrast between married soldiers' longing for their wives and Lee's solitary existence, and his unexpected attraction to Willa, a woman who seems to accept him as he is.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.