Tran emigrated to the U.S. territory of Guam following the Fall of Saigon. He was temporarily moved to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas for six months and soon found sponsorship with a Lutheran church in Arlington County, Virginia. He worked for six months as a dishwasher for Episcopal High School (Alexandria). On July 4, 1976, Tran entered his second marriage with a fellow refugee, Loan Kim Ta. They met at a party in Washington, D.C. for Vietnamese refugees. Ta was a law student at Bovie Community College and the former Miss Saigon (1972).