Tri Tran |
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Profile Highlight
Tri Tran’s son, Tuan Tran, and granddaughter, Frances Tran join us in recounting his life at Tuan’s home in Orange County, CA. Tuan and Frances aid translating for Tri and provide us with their individual perspectives of histories shared across generations.
THE FALL OF SAIGON
Tuan Tran: I’m Tuan Tran, and this is my father. His name is Tri Tran.
Amanda Flores: …1973?
Tuan Tran: 1970…?
Tri Tran: 1974
Tuan Tran: 74
Amanda Flores: You became the Mayor of Saigon? Oh wow.
Tri Tran: In 1975, the Communists, they took over, and we go out.
Tuan Tran: His office, as the mayor of Saigon is pretty much next to the American Embassy. So he did have a lot of opportunity to work with the American people there at the embassy. They tried to get our family out before the fall of Saigon, but we didn’t want to go. And so we waited until the fall of Saigon; because Saigon is the last place to fall under the Communists. So we couldn’t get out until everything was pretty much done and over. So we left on the last day of the fall of Saigon. And he have a lot of friends in the Vietnamese Navy that is right next to his office so because the Saigon Harbor is where the main office of the Vietnamese Navy. So that’s how we got out because he get to know a lot of those people. So we was on the last ship that left Vietnam from Saigon.
Amanda Flores: Do you remember the exact date? Tuan Tran: It was the night of the 30th. April 30th 1975.
[Mr. Tran and his son exchange a few words in Vietnamese]
Tri Tran: 2:30 in the morning
Amanda Flores: the exact time! And the entire family, you guys all were able to go together? So your wife, and then how many children? How many sons?
Tri Tran: My wife, and then my two children.
Tuan Tran: Me and my younger brother and younger sister.
Amanda Flores: And how old were you at the time?
Tuan Tran: I was 17 at the time
Amanda Flores: 17 that night when you guys left?
Tuan Tran: No I was 16.
Tri Tran: [agrees] 16.
Tuan Tran: 16. 16.
Amanda Flores: So you guys got out at the last minute?
Tuan Tran: Yes. In fact, when we left Saigon we just barely got out of Saigon Harbor. We saw the Communist airplanes flying over our head, and they didn’t bother to do anything to us. They were busy with taking over Saigon at the time so they just left and let people go.
Tuan Tran: So you want to know where we end up here? [laughs]
Amanda Flores: So then, what was the experience like after that last evening that you guys left? For the whole family, including…[drifts off]
Tuan Tran: We didn’t know where we were going. We thought that we were going to just leave to go out to avoid the fighting, just for a little while, and come back. We didn’t even know where we were going, until we got out there and we heard on the news that Communists take over and all this and that and by that time we said, “Oh, it’s over. Now, you know, we have to go somewhere.”
So it took us about three days before we get to outside to the international water and we get to see the 7th Fleet—the American 7th Fleet—the Navy. So they start helping us, to guide us to Subic Bay in the Philippines. That’s how we end up, in Subic Bay and we got transferred to the American cargo ship.
Tri Tran: We took the ship to Guam.
Tuan Tran: Yeah, that’s the cargo ship that took us to Guam. That where we go through all the process to come to the United States. This is in Guam. And then from Guam we flew out to Camp Pendleton.
Tri Tran: [gestures] Camp Pendleton.
Tuan Tran: Yeah, Camp Pendleton. And then our Aunt, she live here. She moved, she got married, and moved to the United States in 1960 and they sponsored us out to Barstow. [laughs]
Frances Tran: She married an American soldier, which was very common.
Amanda Flores: [to Grandpa] Is this your sister? [to Dad] Or is this your Mom’s sister?
Tri Tran: Yeah.
Tuan Tran: Yeah, my father’s younger sister. So when I got to Barstow, I got up the next morning and I said “Is this America? I want to go back home.” [laughs] Because Barstow in 1975 you know how that is—it’s, It’s nothing! Its desert. I walk out there and I said “Oh my god, this is America? Send me back home.” [laughs]
Amanda Flores: So that was your first impression of America, living in Barstow…
Tuan Tran: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. But then we moved to LA from there, so when we moved to LA it was totally different. We looked and I said “Oh my god, how can I live in this place?” There was freeway everywhere, traffic was crazy… [drifts off]
Object Description
| Profile of | Tri Tran |
| Title | The Mayor of Saigon |
| Profile bio | Tri Tran attended military academy in South Vietnam at 19 years old, after graduating from high school in 1953. After one year, Tri graduated as a junior lieutenant for the South Vietnamese Army. On his first assignment he was sent to train the 76th Brigade for one year. In 1971 Tri was sent to fight in Laos during the “Hot Summer.” Tri was injured in Laos, and was sent back to Saigon for recovery. Upon his recovery, Tri served as a South Vietnamese Government official. In 1974, Tri became Mayor of Saigon. He and his family were on the last ship out during the evening of the fall of Saigon at 2:30am, April 30th, 1975. They spent three days at sea before reaching international waters. From there Tri and his family were sent to the Phillipines, then to Guam, and finally to San Diego in the United States of America. Tri and his family initially settled in Barstow, California where their sponsors lived. He eventually relocated his family to live in Los Angeles, California. There, he and his wife worked hard to send their children to college. Tri Tran currently resides in Orange County, California near his eldest son, Tuan Tran, and his four granddaughters. |
| Profiler bio | Amanda Flores is studying policy, planning and development with an emphasis in non-profits and social innovation. Dylan Garrett is a sophomore majoring in business administration. This project was a natural extension of his work with a documentary film crew in Cambodia during the summer of 2010. Sheenah Gill is a senior majoring in Psychology. |
| Subject |
immigrant Vietnam war mayor politics fall of Saigon sponsorship |
| Profiled by | Flores, Amanda; Garret, Dylan; Gill, Sheenah |
| Profile date | 2011-04-01 |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | San Diego; Los Angeles; Barstow; Saigon; Ho Chi Minh City |
| Geographic subject (county) | San Diego; Los Angeles; Orange; San Bernardino |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA; Vietnam; Laos; Philippines |
| Coverage date | 1974 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/tri-tran/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 2 video files (00:11:53); 2 transcripts |
| Language | English |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
| Filename | trantri |
Description
| Profile of | Tri Tran |
| Title | The Fall of Saigon |
| Format | 1 transcript, 4p. |
| Filename | trantri-vid1_tr1.pdf |
| Full text | Profile Highlight Tri Tran’s son, Tuan Tran, and granddaughter, Frances Tran join us in recounting his life at Tuan’s home in Orange County, CA. Tuan and Frances aid translating for Tri and provide us with their individual perspectives of histories shared across generations. THE FALL OF SAIGON Tuan Tran: I’m Tuan Tran, and this is my father. His name is Tri Tran. Amanda Flores: …1973? Tuan Tran: 1970…? Tri Tran: 1974 Tuan Tran: 74 Amanda Flores: You became the Mayor of Saigon? Oh wow. Tri Tran: In 1975, the Communists, they took over, and we go out. Tuan Tran: His office, as the mayor of Saigon is pretty much next to the American Embassy. So he did have a lot of opportunity to work with the American people there at the embassy. They tried to get our family out before the fall of Saigon, but we didn’t want to go. And so we waited until the fall of Saigon; because Saigon is the last place to fall under the Communists. So we couldn’t get out until everything was pretty much done and over. So we left on the last day of the fall of Saigon. And he have a lot of friends in the Vietnamese Navy that is right next to his office so because the Saigon Harbor is where the main office of the Vietnamese Navy. So that’s how we got out because he get to know a lot of those people. So we was on the last ship that left Vietnam from Saigon. Amanda Flores: Do you remember the exact date? Tuan Tran: It was the night of the 30th. April 30th 1975. [Mr. Tran and his son exchange a few words in Vietnamese] Tri Tran: 2:30 in the morning Amanda Flores: the exact time! And the entire family, you guys all were able to go together? So your wife, and then how many children? How many sons? Tri Tran: My wife, and then my two children. Tuan Tran: Me and my younger brother and younger sister. Amanda Flores: And how old were you at the time? Tuan Tran: I was 17 at the time Amanda Flores: 17 that night when you guys left? Tuan Tran: No I was 16. Tri Tran: [agrees] 16. Tuan Tran: 16. 16. Amanda Flores: So you guys got out at the last minute? Tuan Tran: Yes. In fact, when we left Saigon we just barely got out of Saigon Harbor. We saw the Communist airplanes flying over our head, and they didn’t bother to do anything to us. They were busy with taking over Saigon at the time so they just left and let people go. Tuan Tran: So you want to know where we end up here? [laughs] Amanda Flores: So then, what was the experience like after that last evening that you guys left? For the whole family, including…[drifts off] Tuan Tran: We didn’t know where we were going. We thought that we were going to just leave to go out to avoid the fighting, just for a little while, and come back. We didn’t even know where we were going, until we got out there and we heard on the news that Communists take over and all this and that and by that time we said, “Oh, it’s over. Now, you know, we have to go somewhere.” So it took us about three days before we get to outside to the international water and we get to see the 7th Fleet—the American 7th Fleet—the Navy. So they start helping us, to guide us to Subic Bay in the Philippines. That’s how we end up, in Subic Bay and we got transferred to the American cargo ship. Tri Tran: We took the ship to Guam. Tuan Tran: Yeah, that’s the cargo ship that took us to Guam. That where we go through all the process to come to the United States. This is in Guam. And then from Guam we flew out to Camp Pendleton. Tri Tran: [gestures] Camp Pendleton. Tuan Tran: Yeah, Camp Pendleton. And then our Aunt, she live here. She moved, she got married, and moved to the United States in 1960 and they sponsored us out to Barstow. [laughs] Frances Tran: She married an American soldier, which was very common. Amanda Flores: [to Grandpa] Is this your sister? [to Dad] Or is this your Mom’s sister? Tri Tran: Yeah. Tuan Tran: Yeah, my father’s younger sister. So when I got to Barstow, I got up the next morning and I said “Is this America? I want to go back home.” [laughs] Because Barstow in 1975 you know how that is—it’s, It’s nothing! Its desert. I walk out there and I said “Oh my god, this is America? Send me back home.” [laughs] Amanda Flores: So that was your first impression of America, living in Barstow… Tuan Tran: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. But then we moved to LA from there, so when we moved to LA it was totally different. We looked and I said “Oh my god, how can I live in this place?” There was freeway everywhere, traffic was crazy… [drifts off] |
| Archival file | Volume3/trantri-vid1_tr1.pdf |
