Trai Van Tran
Profilers: Lina Du, Foram Patel, Hovhannes Buniatyan, Truc (Tiffanee) Pho, & Evan Ji
Introduction
S: Hello, my name is Foram, and the first question I wanted to ask you was what is your name and how old are you?
I: My name is Trai Tran and I am 55 years old.
S: Thank you. And what do you do for a living?
I: Oh I work as a mechanic. I work as a mechanic, yes, for Firestone and Bridgestone yes.
S: Can you please tell us where you worked when you first moved to the United States?
I: When I came here and the first job I worked— for the company. I don’t remember but I worked for an electronic assembly and after that I took a couple classes at a school for mechanic auto repair and from there I applied to work as a mechanic, yes, until now.
S: Thank you, where do you live currently?
I: I live in El Monte, California.
S: Thank you so much for answering, and can you tell us about your family in the United States?
I: I am married, I have two kids. My son is in the 11th grade and my daughter is in 9th grade.
Life Background
S: Next question is when and where were you born?
I: Oh, yes, I’m Uncle of Lina. I was born in Hue, Vietnam in 1970. I came to the United States in 1994.
S: When you moved to the United States, were you alone or did you move with your family?
I: Yes, I moved with my father, my mother, and my younger sister, yes in June 1994.
S: Thank you, how was it growing up in Vietnam?
I: Oh, yes, in Vietnam, from what I know, from 1965 to 1975 and the Vietnam war between those years, the war is no good. You know that people, a lot of people—die. People escaped from anywhere from Vietnam, by boat, by walking, by jungle, country to country, but I came here by U.S. [political asylum]. The US government helped my family come here.
S: How was living in the U.S different from living in Vietnam?
I: Oh, a lot different. Yeah, I feel very, very happy and very grateful [for the US] between communist policy and the US government, you know.
S: Did you visit Vietnam after moving to the United States?
I: I came to visit my sister, my older brother, two times. The first time was in 2005. The second one is 2007. Yes.
War Stories
S: Are there any stories you were told that changed your perspective of war or stuck out to you?
I: Oh, yeah. When I was young, my father and mother told me about the war in Vietnam. He had to, my family had to move to many places to hide in the war, because the war, you know, between South Vietnam and North Vietnam communists, yeah, they were fighting. And my father had to be in the military, so we had to. When they got close, about 20 miles from my home, my father had to leave my mother and my family to go away from the war. It was a hard, very hard time to move in, because during that time, you know, like, we don’t have too many cars. No trucks. We don’t have equipment, you know, like airplanes or travel. We have to use bicycles or run by foot. Yeah, to get away from the war between both sides.
S: Did you or your family have to relocate or go into hiding as a result of war?
I: Yes, we tried to. My father and my mother tried to relocate from the North, the middle to the south, the end of the south. We were hiding because during 1975, a couple months before, the communists took a lot of the land to invade South Vietnam to get them to lose. So, you know, they killed people and took people whose families had relationships with the U.S. military, like my father. We were grateful to have been survivors.
S:: Amongst the stories that you heard from your parents, which one stood out to you the most and why?
I: The people in Vietnam, want to live with freedom. You know, free speech, freedom, freedom of choice, but they don’t like the communists way of life. Like somewhere else, you know, like, North Korea right now. They don’t want people to learn, to know about the outside world.
Yes, my family had some money that we put in a South Vietnamese bank to save for our family and our future. But they [communists] took it away. When the communists won, they took it away. They never returned it. That’s why my family tried to move out and look for freedom, not under communists.
S: How have your reactions to those stories been different as you grow older?
I: Yeah, I’m always thinking back, you know, everything I do, every time I work. I think back to when I was young, how hard I worked. I couldn’t do anything, even to go to school. But here I have everything, opportunity to work, to learn, so I’m grateful to live in America.
Impact of his father’s experience
S: Can you please tell us about your father and his participation in the Vietnam War?
I: Oh, yeah, my father, sorry. My father died a couple years ago. Yeah, but my father was very happy to be able to live in America but he was always thinking about Vietnam, the Vietnam War. His young age, young time, all of the time to try to fight to get free of choice, freedom and freedom for his legacy. Unfortunately, he had to move somewhere else to live. My father was very, very happy to be [here] when he was alive. He was always thinking about how he was very lucky to be here in America. My father was captain, on the ground as a captain. He went to jail after. Before he was a soldier, you know, before the Vietnam War, there was the French war. He joined the French military. So when the French Military lost to communists [North Vietnam], and then America came in, he joined the South Vietnamese and joined America, the US military. So after the communists won in 1975, he went to jail for 10 years.
S: When you said your father was in the military, how long did he serve in the military for?
I: My father served from 1955 to 1965. 1955 with the French, you know the French came to Vietnam around 1950 to 1955 I don’t exactly remember. He fought communists but they lost. They called the U.S. to help, so the U.S. came and joined to help South Vietnam to fight communists again. My father joined South Vietnam and U.S. army forces from 1960 to 1975.
S: Can you please tell us some of your father’s responsibilities in the army?
I: He was the captain. At night, his job was to move from the ground in the north to the south. In a month, he told me, he had to walk and to prevent the communists, you know, using equipment, moving equipment to the jungle so he could detect it. He would report back to the commander where a communist member would be moving to the South to attack the South. His job was to make reports like that so they can fight back or call in military support or something like that.
S: How did your father’s service in the world affect the family dynamic?
I: Ooh, yes. When my father was in jail, my mother had to work very, very hard. She had to work 30 days, not 30 days but like 12 hours a day to help my brother, my sister and me and to survive. We lived very hard. You know, under a communist, after they find out that your family worked with the U.S, they don’t let you do anything else. So my mother had a very hard time to be seen and to help our family survive.
S: Did the communists ever threaten any of your family members?
I: Not a threat, but they told us to never listen to the radio or listen to music from outside, like the United States. They only let you know the news the communists give to you. They teach you all communist teachings. Even if you don’t like it, you have to learn it. Even if it’s not right, you have to learn it.
S: How did the war personally affect you? Can you please share a personal memory?
I: When I was young in Vietnam, I had a lot of stories. A lot affected my life. So like you know, living with communists, you have to know what to do. If you don’t want to do it, you have to find something else to do. I had to move from the middle of Vietnam all the way to the South with my older brother to get to the jungle, you know walking to get to work, to find something to sell, to get money. Walking everyday, like five miles from the jungle to get something. Cutting the trees up to get the wood and then sell it back to get money to survive.
S: How was it growing up without a father figure?
I: Very hard, very hard time. I had a very hard time because when people live under communist control, they say everybody who has family members working with the US army, they have to burn it. Don’t have to burn it literally. My father had to be in jail, and my family cannot do everything involved with the communist. Every week we have to have meetings at night at the office, communists want to see what you do. How many people in your family and what do you do. Yeah, they want to know. I met my father, but my father was in jail. The communist member only let my family see my family once a month, to visit, every visit, only 45 minutes, yeah, but only once a month.
S:Were there any values and lessons your father emphasized because of his experience?
I: Yes, a lot, but one time at night, about nine o’clock, see, he looked at every the same day, same night. He works every day, but the communist is hiding underground. And he, you know, they make the [trenches], about five feet every day, somewhere else, my father walking or running to walking on the side. And the open, you know, they cover with the cap. They put trees [leaves] on them. So when, when my father was running or moving, they opened the cap and shoot down. Luckily, they shot him in the back and it only went through the shoulder. And then my father had to step down and fight back. But luckily the bullet didn’t go all over the shoulder and [was not lethal] so he could continue fighting. But after the communists, they fight back and they run away. Yeah. Oh, the war is no good. But if you want to live with freedom, when you want independence, you don’t want to live with communist, you have to fight with communist.
S: Do you have any other family members that were affected by the war, and can you please share their stories?
I: Oh, yes, I have my uncle. After he graduated high school, [he joined] the military, he just came to fight communists, while six months in, he was killed by the fighting, yeah. My youngest uncle, he died in 1972.
Current Day
S: In what ways do you think your life would have been different if the Vietnam War did not occur? Why?
I: If the Vietnam war had not occurred, I would not be here. Yeah, if the Vietnam War did not happen, I may not be in the United States.
S: How do your experiences shape your view on the US government?
I: US came to help South Vietnam to be, you know, freedom to be, you know, more like makes the country more bright and more independent they don’t want, South Vietnam belong to the communist. You know, like the communist unions like the Soviet Union, China or North Korea. So the U.S. tried to help South Vietnam to be independent. So I’m very thankful for America. Yeah, for the government.
S: How do you define your cultural identity today? Are you more Vietnamese or more American?
I: I live in America. I learn a lot here, but in my youth, I still think about Vietnam. Maybe halfway Vietnamese and half in the United States.
S: Do you think you have achieved the American dream as a result of the war?
I: If you think that way, it feels like that. But some people they don’t think about because of war, you came here, and you get achievements, you know. Any country you want, you learn, you just learn good and you have a good education you could make it, achieve it [American Dream] in any way, you know. But America has more you know, opportunity and for everybody, yeah.
S: Do you still face any difficulties into integrating into American culture,
I: Yes, I want more Vietnamese with me. I want America. Yeah, sometimes I feel that way but all time I am very, very grateful.
S: How did you combat those communist teachings once you moved to the US?
I: The US commander gave training for 30 days in a base, and sometimes sent [people] to some country like Malaysia to learn 90 days how to combat on the ground. Yeah. And my father had to learn about how to use the gun up and down, how to shoot with the right position. Yeah. And training, a lot of running every day you like, you have to accept four, five hour practice, every single day.
Legacy and Reflection
S: What do you think is the most important thing people should know about the Vietnam War?
I: Yes, you know, the Vietnam War, it ended in 1975, but now, 2025, I think like, the Vietnamese War was always kept in the history of our school, for the kids’ school, from, like, middle school. So they can learn more and I can know more than before when they didn’t know.
S: how you feel the Vietnam War has changed your view on global conflicts today. That includes different wars that are being fought. Could you also give some examples?
I: The Vietnam War right now is like, you know, Russia and Ukraine. Yeah. You know, it is more stronger, you know, more killing people. Yeah, but we always think about the right thing. You know, like Russia, invading Ukraine, killing people without a reason. But you know, we always support the right thing. Yeah, the same, the same like communists— they signed a peace agreement but then they tried to invade. Like North Vietnam they signed a peace agreement with South Vietnam but they tried to fight, invasion like Russia and Ukraine. So if we want to support what’s right, you have to support Ukraine, yeah.
S: How do you think the Vietnam War has changed the Vietnamese culture and identity of today?
I: They changed. It depends on the younger people right now. The communists, they teach them about South Vietnam, [saying] it’s not good, no good. But the people like me, I live in South Vietnam. I know we live better than the North Vietnamese, you know, Vietnam. So… It’s hard to say, but the communist policy is different. The young kids, they might change, but for me, I always think about the right way is South Vietnam. So it’s not changed for me at all.
S: Based on your knowledge of current and past Vietnamese film and media, how do you think they told the story of the Vietnamese war? Was it accurate? And could you give me a little insight on why you think it’s accurate or why not?
I: Some I have seen when I was young in Vietnam. I watched on the media, TV, and news. Yeah, some of them had the history right, but some were different, yeah. But, you know, my father told me about politics, they never had it right. The TV and media is so different, but, you know, the people, they have differences, you know, on both sides.
S: Have you told any of your children war stories?
I: Yes, I tell my kids, yeah, how I came here, our grandfather and how the Vietnamese War happened.
S:If you could share one message about the war with younger generations, what would that message be?
I: Yeah, if I have a message, we have to keep living. Don’t make any war. We have to [be] stronger. But if somebody or something, if a country who is an enemy tries to invade or try to threaten us, we have to fight them. Yeah, we have to be strong and fight back, to keep freedom.
S: Do you have anything else you would like to share?
I: No, I, I’m okay right now. Yeah, thank you.
S: And with that, that is all the question we had. Thank you for your time. Have a good day.