Thanh Gahr
Thanh was born in Pleiku, a central highlands village in Vietnam. Having lost both of his parents before the age of four, Thanh and his two brothers were placed in a Catholic orphanage in Qui-Nhon. In the summer of 1974, Thanh were placed in the temporary care of an American family, Tom & Cherie Clark, who were in Vietnam to operate an adoption agency. Just before the fall of Saigon in early April 1975, Thanh was airlifted to the United States by World Airways on the first orphan rescue flight out of Vietnam, an effort that later led to the birth of the Babylift Program. After a couple years shuffling between foster homes and group homes in the United States, Thanh was adopted by Ted & Harriet Gahr from McMinnville, Oregon in 1977. After graduating from McMinnville High School, Thanh attended Oregon State University and earned a Bachelor degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering.
Thanh is currently working as an Electrical Engineer at The Boeing Company. He is married to Anh-Dao and has two children, Linh-Huan and Sao-Mai.
Duong Tran
Duong Tran was born in the village of Duong Son, just outside of Danang. He lost his father in the early stages of the war when he was eight years old. Unable to care for eight children, his mother was forced to send her oldest four sons to live with relatives. Duong’s two oldest brothers became apprentices to auto-mechanics, while he and his younger brother were sent to a Christian orphanage funded by individuals in the United States. He was afforded the opportunity to go to school up through his sophomore year of high school during his time at the orphanage. He was discharged at the age of 16, but the orphanage continued to support his education and he was able to complete high school.
In 1975, after Saigon was taken, Duong followed the mass exodus of Southern Vietnamese, fleeing the country on one of the many boats. After four days at sea and six months in at a refugee camp in Hong Kong, he immigrated to the US and was welcomed into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Abarotin in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. He then attended the University of Pittsburgh, earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and later received an MS at the University of Washington.
Duong is currently living with his wife and four children, and works for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Hung Phan
Dan was born and raised in Vietnam. He came to the USA as a boat-people refugee in 1980. Recognizing the importance of higher education, Dan enrolled in the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering in 1985. After graduation, Dan continued with post-grad education at University of Nebraska Medical Center and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1989. Following three years of Internal Medicine residency, Dan served in the medically underserved community in East Los Angeles, CA for two years from 1992 to 1994. He and his family relocated to Washington State in 1995 where Dan set up his own family medical clinic in Lynnwood.
Beside his job as a physician, Dan also serves in the US Army since 1994 and was promoted Colonel in 2006. He is an active member of the Washington Army National Guard since 1995.
Dan and his wife, Mary Ngoc-Bich, were married in 1992. They have two children, Ylan Vivian and Ngoc Victoria. Dan appreciates the values of education in society and sincerely wanting to help others to achieve their dreams through education. He and his wife have been actively working with Compassion In Deeds since the organization was first formed in 2008.
