As a NASA safety engineer, Peter Ve Tran spends nearly
every day working to ensure a safe, secure work environment,
a sharp contrast to the danger-filled escape that brought him
to the United States. Tran is a Program Manager and member of
the Pressure Vessel Program committee at NASA’s Stennis Space
Center (SSC) near Bay St. Louis, Miss.
Tran remembers well the frightening struggle to leave war-
torn Vietnam. His journey began in 1975, when at the age of
13, he escaped from Vietnam aboard his father’s shrimp boat.
“I was studying to become a priest when North Vietnam took
over the South,” Tran said. “We had to escape, and wherever
my family goes, I go,” he added.
After venturing into the Pacific Ocean with no set
destination, the family of seven was picked up by an American
Navy ship. The crew transferred them to a nearby island, the
first stop in a series of destinations before reaching the
United States. After living briefly in Arkansas and Missouri,
the family settled in Louisiana in 1976, drawn to the strong
Vietnamese community in New Orleans.
“My parents cannot speak English,” Tran said. “Until we moved
to New Orleans, this made it difficult for them to earn a
living in the United States. When we came to the United
States, it took me several years to learn English well and
adapt to American culture,” Tran said.
After graduating from John Ehret High School in Marrero, La.,
Tran entered Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He
struggled with language barriers and the challenges of
earning tuition money. Therefore, after his sophomore year he
entered the workforce, but continued attending school part
time.
Tran graduated in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering from the University of South Alabama in Mobile.
He then taught Asian students with language difficulty and
culture communications problems in Mobile county public
schools, while pursuing his master’s degree at night. The
position enabled Tran to share not only his scientific
expertise, but also his life experiences with students whose
backgrounds were similar to his.
“There were a lot of Vietnamese students,” he said. “Because
I had been down their road, I was able to help them
understand differences in our language and culture,” Tran
added.
The teaching position led to an engineering job with a
commute that had Tran driving by SSC nearly daily. “Every
time I passed Stennis, it reminded me of my dream, to work at
NASA,” Tran said.
In 1996, Lockheed Martin Stennis Operations hired Tran as an
engineer. Five years later, NASA offered Tran a civil servant
position as a safety engineer. Tran helps ensure all
contractor and civil servant employees meet guidelines
established by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.
Now a U.S. citizen and the father of two, Tran still has
relatives in Vietnam, and he looks forward to visiting them
soon. He plans to show his own children the places where he
grew up. “It is very painful to see the struggles of that
country,” he said. “But I still want to take my family to
visit,” he added.
Media organizations interested in interviewing Tran should
contact Rebecca Strecker at the SSC Public Affairs Office at:
228/688-3341.
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