David Truong’s journey to law school right out of college, in a state where he didn’t know anyone might have seemed intimidating to some.
But for David, who graduated from Dayton Law in 1996, it was a short trip compared to the long trek he and his family had taken years before. Now David is sharing his family’s story in his new book, “Escape to America: A Family Memoir.”
“I’ve been telling parts of this story to friends who asked without realizing it for a long time,” David says.
The book details how David’s family fled Vietnam in the aftermath of the war there. His father had fought on the side of the South Vietnamese and was forced to endure the hardships of a reeducation camp after the North Vietnamese won. Once he got out, he hatched a plan to escape the country with his family. The book follows their journey to freedom and looks at all those who made it possible.
“You think you did this on your own, but there were a bunch of people along the way that helped,” David says.
David was a kid during the escape. While his family would often recount the stories of what happened, it wasn’t something they always shared with everyone else.
“Once we got to the United States, we didn’t think much about it,” David says. “We just moved forward.”
David grew up in the Northern Virginia-Washington D.C. area and went to college there as well. When it came time to go to law school, he decided to set out on an adventure of his own, choosing Dayton Law.
“I had never really been out of Northern Virginia since we’d lived there,” David says. “The reason I applied to Dayton is my best friend’s mom went to UD. I really liked the school after visiting.”
David credits UDSL with helping him hone his no fear attitude when it came to work.
“UD fostered my spirit of I have everything I need to now go trailblaze,” David says. “No door is going to automatically open for me in D.C.”
After graduating, David ended up back in Northern Virginia in the field of government procurement. He worked his way up and is now the General Counsel, having served previously as the Chief Operating Officer during its M&A growth period, at Planned Systems International.
“UD Law helped me achieve every conceivable career goal I’ve ever had,” David says.
At one point, about a decade ago, David says he looked into writing about his family’s escape, but didn’t because life was too busy.
Now, with his parents already gone and his siblings getting older, David felt like he couldn’t wait any longer. For months, he wrote every evening until midnight.
“I bet lots of people have really cool stories,” David says. “But unless you’re famous, nobody writes about you and that’s a shame. There are so many great family stories and they get lost. Nobody ever puts them down.”
David says he always had an idea of how he would write about his family’s escape, but it wasn’t until he put everything on the page that the big picture of what it all meant came into focus.
“What we can learn from it is to be grateful for those who help us along the way,” David says. “When you feel like you’re on the floor, your capacity to get up is much more than you think.”
You can learn more about the book on David's blog.