Don't be a fool and die for your country. Let the other sonofabitch die for his.
-- General George S. Patton
November 21, 2004
Vietnamese Refugee And US Soldier Killed In Iraq
From the title I am sure most have assumed I am talking about two people. In fact I am talking about only one.
Army Sgt. Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran was killed in Iraq. According to AP News:
WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) - A Vietnamese refugee who fled through the jungles of Southeast Asia but died in the deserts of Iraq was buried Saturday with military honors. Army Sgt. Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran, 26, of Mission Viejo, was killed outside Baghdad on Nov. 7 when a car he was riding in was struck by a homemade bomb."To Bo ... you have fought the good fight," his father, Van Tran, said during services at the Vietnamese Alliance Church in Midway City, a suburb in Orange County's Little Saigon area.
"We know you had a life full of danger, but you never called back to complain," he said. "You have honored the Vietnamese in this country."
Van Tran was a former second lieutenant in the South Vietnamese army who was captured and placed in a "re-education camp" after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Van Tran said that in 1986 as a young boy, his son carried one sister on his shoulders and led the other by the hand as the family fled through the jungle in Vietnam.
The family went through Cambodia and Thailand and eventually reached the Philippines. They came to the United States in 1989.
After active Army service, Bo Tran joined the California Army National Guard about three years ago. A mechanic, he was deployed with the 81st Brigade Combat team based in Camp Murray, Wash.
Tran tried to reassure his family about his deployment. He told his mother, Thu Truong Tran, that he was completely safe during a telephone call five days before he died.
More than 400 people, including about three dozen members of the military, attended Tran's funeral, which was held in English and Vietnamese. He was buried at Riverside National Cemetery.
Just one more reason why our military is so powerful and effective. We have people who serve this nation out of pride, others that feel obligated, and troops like this who are immigrants and served with distinction!
SlagleRock Out!
What an example Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran has made, he paid the ultimate price defending freedom and human rights for his adopted country during his brief lifetime, for people in a land long known for abusing both. This is in glaring contrast to other emigres that live here and reap the bounty of prosperity and freedom at the expense of others. All the while they're trying to destroy this nation. They even dance in the streets when an American is killed or butchered by their former countrymen. My deepest sympathy and condolences goes out to the friends and family of Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran, thank you and rest in peace - American.
Posted by: Jack at November 21, 2004 09:12 AMVery nice comments you guys have here, congratulations and thanks to allowing my post...
Posted by: Phendimetrazine at April 15, 2005 02:04 PM