Tim Tran - American Dreamer: How I Escaped Communist Vietnam and Built a Successful Life in America

I have had an interesting and eventful life. Over the years, many friends have encouraged me to write my story, but the arduous work of composing a lengthy, complex memoir and the difficult task of publishing it discouraged me. Recently, though, I realized that I had an important story to tell.

I dedicate my story to my adopted country, the United States of America, which provided refuge and support to me, a once-penniless refugee, a man without a country.

I also dedicate this book to my American countrymen and the memory of the more than fifty-eight thousand men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice and whose names are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC; to the more than one million South Vietnamese soldiers who died in the war; to the millions of civiliansin both North and South Vietnamkilled in the conflict; and to the approximately half-million South Vietnamese and ethnic Chinese who lost their lives while trying to escape communism.

I also feel that I owe it to my fellow Vietnamese Americansto the next and future generationsto share my story.

I always had a love for America from my early childhood. Since I returned to the US as a refugee after spending time here as a student and became a naturalized citizen, my love for this country and its people has deepened. As one who has received so much from this country, I owe it an enormous debt. And as a relatively new citizen of this great nation, I want to give back as much as I can. What I can give, in truth, is just a small token compared to what I owe.

Despite the many challenges that our country faces (there are always challenges), I always look forward with optimism and believe that Americas best days lie ahead.

I wanted to share my life story: my experiences, my successes, and my failures. This is my personal story, the story of an underprivileged third-world kid whose life was shaped by a proxy war between superpowers. I became a toddler refugee from Communism at the tender age of four, navigated through a treacherous and tough life, and ultimately survived to live the American dream in the greatest country on earth.

It is a story of hard work, of valuing education as the means of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. It is a story of sheer perseverance and good luck. It is a story of preparation meeting once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and producing success. My story could only happen in our beloved America.

I must thank all of the people who have touched my life in beneficial ways. Some are mentioned in this book, but there simply wasnt enough room for everyone or every detail. They know who they are and how they helped me. I owe each of them a debt of gratitude, and I hope they accept my apology for not including them. I have one promise: if this book is well received and a sequel is warranted, I will include more of my benefactors names and teachable stories next time around.

As I write these words, I feel glad that the relationship between Communist Vietnam and the United States has vastly improved in recent years. The two former adversaries have reconciled and are building closer and warmer ties. I hope that the Communist victors will reconcile with their fraternal, vanquished brothers, the former soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, giving them the honor and dignity they deserve.