This week’s Veteran is Nick Tran, who served in the U.S. Army from 1988-1991 and 2003-2013. Nick was born in Vietnam, and was five years old when he left during the Fall of Saigon under fire from the North Vietnamese. His father was a South Vietnamese officer, and before being picked up by an US Navy Destroyer from the 7th Fleet on his third day without water, while others in the boat died. Nick’s Mother and others in his family were arrested by the North Vietnamese, and sent to a re-education camp. He never saw her again. Nick knows about Communism, and he loves the United States, his adopted country. After graduating high school in 1988, Tran joined the US Army serving in the Field Artillery, and served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. After his first term of service he went to college, and following his reenlistment in 2003 he returned to Field Artillery, then switched to being an Army Combat Medic. Tran then won a place with the Army Special Forces. He went on to deploy to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Following his military service, Tran worked for Schlumberger building programs to help veterans get off the streets, helping them heal and get the help they needed, getting them jobs within the oil field services industry. Currently, Nick is running in the Republican Primary for the 8th Congressional District. Good Luck Nick, and Congratulations on being MCNs ‘Veteran of the Week’.