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by DJ
Monday, Nov. 15, 2004 at 6:10 PM
Guard Sgt. Quoc Binh Tran, 26, Mission Viejo; Killed in Iraq
guard_sgt._quoc_binh_tran.jpg, image/jpeg, 260x350
Guard Sgt. Quoc Binh Tran, 26, Mission Viejo; Killed in Iraq
By David Reyes
Times Staff Writer
November 14, 2004
When he left for Iraq, Sgt. Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran's family knew they were not supposed to worry. For him, it was his duty and the kind of adventure that fueled his daring spirit.
Tran, 26, a mechanic in the California Army National Guard, died after the vehicle he was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb Nov. 7 outside Baghdad.
"He was a hands-on kind of guy," said Tran's sister Katie, 23. "He would try anything, often even until it hurt him. He was a loving person but very independent and one who would go into anything and not think twice about it."
Tran's father, Van, an electrical engineer who lives in Mission Viejo, was proud of his son, whom the family described as an athletic, 5-foot-9-inch man who enjoyed jogging and travel.
"What's the opposite of sedentary? Well, whatever the word is, that was Bo," said Kristie, another sister. "One of the main reasons he joined the Guard was to travel and to serve his country.
"My mom and my brother enjoyed a special relationship. He would call every day and let her know how things were going. She and my dad are very proud of him," she added.
Tran's mother, Thu Truong Tran, did express worry about his being in the Guard, especially after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But his parents tempered their emotions and showed support for his decision, Kristie said.
"He joined before Sept. 11 and, like everyone in this country, he felt it was an attack on our soil," she added. "He was one of those people who wanted to protect the United States, like we were under his protection and he felt very proud of that. He felt like that was his duty."
Tran joined the National Guard about three years ago after serving in the active-duty Army, said 1st Lt. Jonathan Shiroma, a Guard spokesman in Sacramento. He was a mechanic in Detachment 3, Company B of the 81st Brigade Combat Team. His battalion is headquartered in Seattle but had a detachment in San Bernardino, where he was based.
Tran was assigned to the 81st Brigade because it needed his skills as an armored mechanic, Shiroma said.
He is the eighth member of the California Army National Guard to be killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Vietnam native, his family's oldest child, was a naturalized U.S. citizen. His father, a former second lieutenant in the South Vietnamese army, was captured and put in a "re-education camp" after Saigon fell in 1975.
Van Tran and his young family later escaped through the jungle of Vietnam.
They eventually settled in Mission Viejo, where Quoc Tran graduated from Mission Viejo High School in 1994. He attended Saddleback Community College, where he studied to become a mechanical engineer, his sisters said.
One of his passions was cars. "He just loved to tinker around with motors," said one sister.
Tran got his nickname from two sources, said his sister Kristie. "It was short for Binh, but also it was short for Beau, which means 'beautiful' in French."
The funeral is tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at Peek Family Mortuary in Westminster.
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-me-tran...
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by DJ
Friday, Nov. 19, 2004 at 7:00 AM
San Bernardino County Sun
Homemade bomb near Baghdad kills soldier from SB National Guard unit
By JOE NELSON
Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - A soldier assigned to a San Bernardino National Guard unit was fatally injured when a homemade bomb crammed with chemicals, biological toxins or possibly radiological materials exploded Sunday near Baghdad, Iraq.
Spc. Quoc Binh Tran, 26, of Mission Viejo became the California National Guard's eighth Iraq War fatality when the blast struck his vehicle in a convoy from Camp Anaconda west of the Iraqi capital at about 10:45 a.m., said 1st Lt. Jonathan Schiroma, spokesman for the Army National Guard, California.
The bomb and its contents were described by Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, Army spokeswoman.
Tran was a mechanic with the Guard's Detachment 3, Company B, 181st Support Battalion out of San Bernardino.
He joined the National Guard in April 1997 and was promoted to the rank of specialist in December 2002. He had been a member of the San Bernardino unit since 2001, Schiroma said.
It was unclear how far the bomb was from Tran's vehicle when it exploded.
No other injuries were reported, Robbins said.
Tran was rushed to the 1st Combat Support Hospital Baghdad, where he died, Schiroma said.
The soldier's sister, Katie Tran, 23, spoke lovingly of her brother on Tuesday.
"I don't think he thought he would be in the line of fire. He was a decent, nice individual,' she said.
"We're all proud of him, love him and will miss him,' she said. "He served his country well.'
She said that when her brother joined the Guard in April 1997, it was a relatively quiet time for the military. He had dreams of becoming a mechanical engineer and of seeing the world, and thought the military would be a good place to help him do both.
After three days of grief, a very tired Van Tran, 51, the soldier's father, said services for his son would be held at Lakeside Chapel and burial would be at Westminster Memorial Park Cemetery. The elder Tran said the family immigrated from Vietnam in 1989.
The day and time of the funeral had not been determined because military officials told the Trans it could take three to seven days for Spc. Tran's body to be flown to Southern California.
On Aug. 1, Armando Hernandez, 22, of Hesperia became the sixth soldier from San Bernardino County to die in Iraq when a car bomb exploded near his guard post in Samarra.
www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~2524491,00.html
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by DJ
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 at 3:29 AM
sgt._quoc_binh_tran.jpg, image/jpeg, 283x409
Members of the California Army National Guard salute the flag covered casket of Sgt. Quoc Binh Tran during a funeral service for Tran in Midway City, Calif., Saturday, Nov, 20, 2004. Tran, 26, from Mission Viejo, Calif., was killed when an explosive detonated near his convoy in Baghdad. He was assigned to the National Guard, 181st Support Battalion, San Bernardino, Calif. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
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