FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Mai Tran’s inspiring life journey from Vietnamese immigrant to successful Fort Collins business owner will now help other refugees.
Proceeds from “Mai Tran’s Journey of Passion as told to Ray Martinez: From Darkness to Light” will help Vietnamese refugees in Cambodia.
Tran, who started Information Technology Experts, or ITX, in 1996 with Bruce Hottman, arrived in the United States on Jan. 9, 1980, a year to the day after he and his sister Thu-Hong Tran escaped from Vietnam.
Although Tran has always been open about his story, Martinez said he had to cajole Tran into telling it for a book.
Martinez, a former Fort Collins mayor and police detective, has worked for ITX for five years as its business development director. He spent 14 months crafting the 150-page book.
“Mai was humble,” Martinez said. “But I thought it was important to share his story. He’s the classic American dream story come to life. He started with nothing and made it into something.”
Tran’s family knew they had to escape from Vietnam after the communists took over in 1976. After three failed attempts to get the whole family out, his parents decided to send him and his younger sister on their own, Tran said.
They left Vietnam in a small boat meant to carry 30 people that was packed with 300. They met a cargo ship off shore and climbed aboard it with 5,000 others. The cargo ship was designed to carry 300 people.
It headed to the Philippines and began unloading its passengers on a deserted island. Tran, then 16, and his sister would have been unloaded the following morning, but the Philippine Coast Guard chased the boat away.
The ship continued its journey to Hong Kong where it sought refugee status for its passengers. The government in Hong Kong kept the ship 3 miles offshore for six months and routinely brought the refugees rations—rice, two small pieces of ham and half an orange—that were supposed to sustain them for two days.
The refugees tried hunger strikes and attempted to swim to shore, but were always caught and sent back. Finally, in desperation, they cut the anchor and began drifting in. The government sent its coast guard out to try to push the ship back.
The refugees threw bottle rockets to keep that from happening. After the ship struck a rock 30 to 40 feet offshore, the refugees punctured a hole in the hull and began to swim ashore. Forced to deal with them, the government put them in refugee camps.
Tran and his sister were fortunate. They were able to contact a friend of his sister’s who lived in Boulder who agreed to sponsor them in the United States.
Within a year of their escape, they were on their way to the United States. Other refugees weren’t so lucky. Some ended up in the camp for 10 years before they were able to find new homes, Tran said.
Tran and his sister flew to the United States and landed at the former Stapleton International Airport on Jan. 9, 1980. They waited for six hours, unaware that their sponsor had changed her mind.
But luck was on their side, and a Vietnamese woman found them and took them home. She then worked with Catholic Charities to place the pair with a foster family in Fort Collins.
The city has been Tran’s home ever since, and he can’t imagine living anywhere else.
“It’s a great town to live in,” Tran said. “People sacrificed to help us. One of the reasons I wanted to start ITX is so I could stay in town and be part of the community.”
When Tran and his sister arrived in Fort Collins, neither could speak English.
“I couldn’t even count to 10,” he said.
But their foster parents, teachers and tutors all helped them learn the language so they could graduate from high school.
Tran remembers studying was hard, but within six months, he and his sister had caught up with their peers.
Eventually, he graduated from Colorado State University, and then he and his sister were able to bring their other family members to the United States.
Tran and Hottman started their software and network support company in 1996 with $4,000, and it was an immediate success.
In September, ITX became part of Cherokee National Businesses, which will allow the company that employs 200 to continue growing.
“When my sister and I came here, we got a lot of help. People were generous beyond our expectations,” he said. “They helped me succeed. Without that, I don’t think I’d be here today.”
