Rank: Staff Sergeant
Unit: C Trp, 2d Field Artillery, 2d Stryker Cavalry Regiment
Duty station: Vilseck, Germany
Awards: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2).
Deployments: 2 in Iraq
Date of birth: 2-Aug-1977
Hometown: Reseda, California
High School: Chatsworth Senior High
Married: Lien
Children: Michelle
Campaign: Iraq
Died: 20-Jun-2008
Age at death: 30
Cause of death: Killed in action – IED
Location of fatality: Balad, Iraq
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Place of interment: San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California
Click to open an external link to view Soldier’s grave site on the Find A Grave website.
Notes: Tran grew up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He escaped the country by boat with family members, and lived for several years in a refugee camp in Thailand. Tran was a teenager when he arrived in California. Seven days after Michelle was born, Tran left for his second tour.
Click to open an external link to view Soldier’s grave site on the Find A Grave website.