Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Director of Microbiology Dr. Roberto Vargas worked long hours running tests at a hospital in Rochester, New York. Because of the risk of exposure, he made the difficult decision to isolate himself from his wife, Susan, and their four young kids. At the time of this conversation, he was living in the basement of their home. Using StoryCorps Connect, Dr. Vargas spoke virtually with his wife Susan and their 10-year-old son Xavier about the toll that this setup has taken on them, and the ways they have come together as a family despite the distance.

Allen Hoe was as a combat medic in Vietnam. His oldest son, Nainoa K. Hoe, served as a first lieutenant infantry officer with the Army’s 3rd Battalion in Iraq. In January 2005, while leading his men through Mosul, Iraq, Nainoa was killed by sniper fire. He was 27. On Memorial Day in 2005, Allen traveled from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. for an event honoring Army nurses returning home from the war. He remembers meeting the Army nurse who had cared for his son after he had been shot and killed during combat in Mosul, Iraq.