We're Still Here Spotlight: Tran Loc

We’re Still Here is a multimedia project featuring stories from people sentenced to Death By Incarceration in Pennsylvania. The first installment includes an essay and interview with Tran Loc, who’s in his 27th year of a DBI sentence at SCI Smithfield.

Tran was born in Hue, the ancient imperial capital city of Vietnam that was just 31 miles south of the border between North and South Vietnam. Four years before he was born, one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, known as the Tet Offensive, destroyed the city, killing almost 8,000 people.

Everyone scattered during the war, so Tran’s family lost touch with their broader support network. He and his seven siblings had to work long hours to support their parents in securing the resources they needed to sustain a family of ten.

In 1991, Tran and his sister caught a break: they received an offer to come to the United States as refugees. Tran attended Kensington High School, despite not knowing English, and went to work in a clothing factory, where he was paid $3/hour.

In 1997, Tran was arrested for a crime that had happened a couple years earlier. “I was devastated and confused,” Tran says. “I knew I had never hurt anyone. To this day, I have never once held a gun in my life.”

A guy he had worked with at the clothing factory took a deal to lower his sentence and identified Tran as part of a crime he had committed a few years earlier. Tran was identified along with 5 other people—some of whom he had never seen before—as part of a robbery where a person was killed. At the age of 24, Tran was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

After a few angry years of coming to terms with his sentence, Tran dedicated himself to being a force for good inside. He says, “One of the teachers saw my potential and mentored me into a role as a tutor. For over 10 years, I worked in his class as a teacher’s aide, using my skills and experience to help my peers learn and grow. I also started gravitating toward the people who had been at Smithfield long before me who managed to cultivate a positive attitude. These men taught me how to communicate with others. They helped me understand U.S. laws and gave me assistance with legal issues. These relationships have shown me that even in a miserable place like a prison, love can grow.”

Tran is now the Vice President of Journey For A Change (JFC), an organization that works with incarcerated people who will quickly return to society. He is active in the faith community and coaches workout classes in the gym that he maintains. He hopes to serve as a mentor to people who are struggling when he comes home.

Tran's story is one of suffering primarily caused by the United States military and unjust criminal legal system. It is also a story of cultivating hope in a desperate place and nurturing relationships that help his community heal, despite everything. Read Tran’s story here.