The Mayor of Saigon

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.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