Oral history interview with Hung V. Tran, 1998 August 6-28

Tape 1, Side 1, through Tape 2, Side 1. In the first interview session, conducted on August 6, 1998, Tran discusses his family background and early life in Hanoi, Vietnam, including his experiences at École Puginer, a Catholic French school. He describes how his life changed after the partition of Vietnam in 1954. He talks about his life in Saigon, South Vietnam, and shares his experiences at a boarding school in Thủ Đức, and at Taberd Saigon High School. He discusses the practice of Catholicism and Confucianism in Vietnam, and talks about the privileges and responsibilities that came with being the oldest son. He shares his reasons for studying pharmacology in college.

Tape 2, Side 2, though Tape 3, Side 1. In the second interview session, conducted on August 13, 1998, Tran further discusses his life in Saigon and his experiences at Taberd Saigon High School. He talks about the economic, colonial, and political history of Vietnam in the early 20th century leading to the Vietnam War, and discusses the views held by the people of South Vietnam towards the United States government. He shares his experiences studying pharmacology in college and talks about his experiences as a pharmacist at a hospital in Saigon during the Vietnam War.

Tape 3, Side 2, through Tape 4, Side 2. In the third interview session, conducted on August 24, 1998, Tran continues to discuss his experiences as a pharmacist at a hospital in Saigon during the Vietnam War. He describes the devastation wrought upon the Vietnamese people and landscape by U.S. involvement in the war, shares his thoughts about the U.S. military strategy, and discusses the U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1973. He also talks about his marriage and about raising a family.

In the fourth and final interview session, conducted on August 28, 1998, Tran discusses his life in Vietnam under the Communist government after the fall of Saigon in 1975, and also describes how many members of his family escaped the country with U.S. help. He talks about being forced to take re-education classes and about food rationing. He describes attempting to escape with his family by boat in 1979 and about their capture. He speaks at length about his experiences in prison as an "enemy of the people" from 1979 to 1981. He talks about the reasons for his release in 1981, about his work as a researcher at the Vietnam Institute of Science in Saigon, and about the experiences of his family during his imprisonment. He closes the interview by describing the family's plans to escape Vietnam in 1987.