Biography of Phuoc Tran
Phuoc Tran was born in 1956 in Saigon, South Vietnam. She grew up with her
parents, her brother and her sister. Her mother was a housewife and her father was a
commander in the South Vietnamese Anny. In the early 60's, Mrs. Tran's life was
drastically affected by the Vietnam War, during which her father was killed and her
family was repeatedly relocated. When the North Vietnamese took over the South, Mrs.
Tran's family was treated with extra cruelty because her father had sen'ed in the army,
her husband served in the South Vietnamese government and because she was Catholic.
Her home and all of lier family's belongings were taken by the North Vietnamese and she
was forced to live in a rural area.
Diuing the war, she experienced many hardships, including a traumatic
experience diu-ing the Tef Offensive in Saigon. Regardless ofthe difficulties of living in
Vietiwm at that time, Mrs. Tran completed high school and college. Her husband, whom
she married in 1975, was also held in a Nortli Vietnamese prison for ten years despite the
fact that he was proinised freedom after only one month. She was eventually able to raise
enough money to send herself and her family to America with a lot of hard work. This
was an incredible feat considering the obstacles that the North Vietnamese imposed upon
her passage, including making the price to leave the country unreasonably high.
Today, Mrs. Tran lives in Potomac, Maryland with her husband, son and daughter
and is fluent in English and Vietnamese. She works in inventory control and as a
babysitter. She still maintains strong ties with Vietnam including a planned trip there
early this February. Despite the fact that she can never fully return to her country and that
Vietnam is not what it once was, she still maintains an optimistic attitude toward the
future.