A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War by Hoi B. Tran

Advance Praises

Bob Anderson, Ph.D, CMSgt, USAF (Ret). Author of TAC LEADER: What Honor Requires and Back To Basics: For Finding Sanity in an Insane World.

Hoi Tran's book has significantly opened my eyes about the Viet Nam War. Told from an uncommon perspective, the Vietnamese viewpoint I learned more about what was actually happening than I ever learned from the news media.

Hoi brought his story to life as a warrior, a refugee, and an ally with insight, poignancy and fervor. Hoi's writing ability helped me walk with him down the streets of Viet Nam as the story developed.

As a former military professional, I struggled with many of the conflicts Major Tran dealt with and wondered - would I have had the courage to handle things the way he did.

The book reads like a television documentary, that is what it should be. This work begs for a competent screen writer to tell the story Hoi has laid out. It is a story that should be told; told to a new generation of young people that were not there. It should also be told for the generation that was there, that lived these events - it truly is their story.

This is a book for students of history, for those that served in Viet Nam and for those serving in conflicts today. Someone once said, "There are never noble wars, but there are always noble warrior." Hoi Tran has distinguished himself as one of them.

Larry D. Engelmann, Ph.D, Emeritus Professor of History at SJSU, CA. Author of six books among them; Tears Before The Rain, Daughter of China and Feather in The Storm.

“Hoi Tran’s memoir of his service in all three of the Indochina Wars between 1946 and 1975 provides readers with a dramatic and very passionate and personalized version of what it meant and how it felt to fight in the ultimate lost cause of our time.  A brave and a patriotic and talented pilot, Tran details the sacrifices and dedication of his fellow fliers in their nearly unending struggle to provide security for the survival of a country trying desperately to survive against overwhelming odds.  Tran’s work documents the sacrifices and the dedication as well as the frustration of the South Vietnamese men and women who were lost to the long conflict in Vietnam.   His narrative is yet another in a growing library of works that reinforce the importance of memory against forgetting.” 

Phillip Jennings, Former Pilot USMC, Air America, Inc. Award winning author of Nam-A-Rama, Goodbye Mexico, and The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War.

A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War is a book all Americans should read. It's an adventure inside a war story inside a very human story of struggle, war, and finally success in a well-lived life. People like Major Tran are why America went to South Viet Nam's aid, and why we should have stayed the course to their ultimate victory.

Major Tran’s story, A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War, tells of that transformation with passion for his Vietnamese heritage and palpable gratefulness to his adopted country. What makes this book important, and so readable, is his straightforward account of how it all happened. The flight from Hanoi and its brutal Communist regime (he remembers being taken to a rally for Ho Chi Minh as a child), his struggle to become accepted by the South Vietnamese military (after all, he was North Vietnamese) and ultimately flying fighters on the wing of Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, a flamboyant leader of South Vietnam, on raids into North Viet Nam.

It’s a perspective of the Viet Nam War (The American War as the North Vietnamese call it) that few Americans have been exposed to. All of the American tragedy of the war so widely covered in the U.S. press was experienced by the South Vietnamese—to a multiple degree. For them, and for Major Tran, the outcome was always uncertain, particularly if they read U.S. news or listened to U.S. reporters, citizens and Congressman continuously clamoring about the need for America to abandon its ally.

Yet, the South Vietnamese (now of course “Vietnamese”) were and continue to be one of the most pro-American people on earth. In A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War Major Tran tells why. The story of his struggles to become a fighter pilot to protect his country, family and friends could be the story of any number of young American men. Major Tran’s courage and devotion to duty, to friends, to family and his basic decency and morality give background to why America was in Viet Nam, and why we should have never left them to their fate.

A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War is a personal story, but it’s also a story of the Viet Nam War that Americans should know.

Bill Laurie, US Army Viet Nam veteran.  Author of Godzilla at Khe Sanh – Myths, Hallucinations and Mirage of False History, a work in progress.  Also Co-author with R.J. Del Vecchio, WHITEWASH-BACKWASH, Myths of the Viet Nam War.

Tran Ba Hoi's memoir is a must-read to comprehend the complexities of Viet Nam and the war fought there.  The account spans decades, from Hoi's initial youthful support of Ho Chi Minh in 1945 North Viet Nam, through his eventual disaffection, opposition and service as a South Viet Namese pilot combating Hanoi's communists.  The account spans decades, recounting experiences and thoughts of an insightful, intelligent man.  One major mistake running through America's involvement and extending into grossly flawed historical accounts is inexcusable failure to listen to the Viet Namese themselves, to understand their views, their patriotism, their motivations.  Hoi's book is a long overdue correction to this inexcusable flaw, containing important information unavailable in most accounts.  Read it, learn from it.

LARRY MAYES, Colonel, USAF (Retired)

Rapid City, SD

Hoi B. Tran is a very determined, patriotic and skilled man who has penned A VIETNAMESE FIGHTER PILOT IN AN AMERICAN WAR, which chronicles his life from the turmoil of growing up in North Vietnam during the civil war with the French after WWII, entering the Vietnamese Air Force, escaping to South Vietnam, training in the United States, long service as a fighter pilot, duty as a B-727 pilot for Air Vietnam and finally his escape to the United States with the fall of Saigon. This book is an autobiography first and also a history of the great conflicts within Viet Nam, both under the French colonial powers and during the subsequent ideological war between the North Vietnamese Communists and the Republic of (South) Viet Nam. His insights as to what motivated the various factions and the errors in judgments by the many leaders are unique and sure to be intriguing to readers whose perspectives have been developed by Western writers. His painful introduction to America and challenges he faces as he tries to find a vocation and home for his family make for some stark reading, revealing a man of great energy and grit. In total this book is a compelling story of significant successes in the face of almost overwhelming challenges.

Rear Admiral William J. McDaniel, U.S.Navy, (retired), Viet Nam Veteran

Hoi Tran’s book, “A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War,” is one that all

Vietnamese should be proud of. Major Tran displays all of the traits of the South Vietnamese military man that those of us who worked with them came to admire. It is a war story, but more than that. It is a story of a struggle against overwhelming odds to survive and prosper after the devastating loss of one’s country.”

Lewis Sorley, Ph.D, Lt. Col. USA (Ret). Author of Thunderbolt: General Creighton Abrams and the Army of His Times, Honorable Warrior: Gen. Harold K. Johnson and The Ethics of Command, and A Better War.

Hoi Tran, a patriot and man of good will, has produced a moving and insightful account of his long search for freedom. It constitutes an important addition to the under-represented South Vietnamese outlook on the history of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Along with documenting the tragic consequences of the communist subjugation of the South, he provides an inspiring story of how he and his family, and many other refugees, have built new and prosperous lives in America.

Major General Larry Taylor USMC (Retired)

I honor the service and dedication of our Vietnamese allies, and their stories need to be told.  That is especially true of men like Major Hoi Tran, who knows the truth behind the many myths surrounding American involvement in Indo-China.  I watched VNAF A-1s in action in those days, and they were courageous and good.

Andrew Wiest, Ph.D, Professor of History at The University of Southern Mississippi, author of many history books among them: Vietnam’s Forgotten Army, Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land and, Haig, The Evolution of a Commander.

Hoi B. Tran’s A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War, is a valuable account of the often-overlooked South Vietnamese role in the air war in Vietnam.  The story is both revealing and moving, tracing Hoi Tran’s life first as a child growing up in and around Hanoi during times of great trouble, his momentous decision to move south after the signing of the Geneva Accords, his career in the South Vietnamese Air Force, through his new post-war life in the United States.  A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War is an important primary document and is most informative when dealing with the myriad details of life in the South Vietnamese Air Force ranging from training to the loss of dear friends on bombing runs.  Hoi Tran’s work is raw and unapologetic in its support of the Republic of Vietnam and in its dislike of the South’s communist adversaries.  A Vietnamese Fighter Pilot in an American War is powerful precisely because it is raw – for Hoi Tran the hurt of the Vietnam War remains very near the surface.  Hoi Tran’s work is an important reminder that, to the South Vietnamese expatriate community in the United States, the Vietnam War is a living, breathing thing – not an academic exercise as it is to so many in the west, but rather an important part of daily life.

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