His great uncle, Tran Van Chon, was chief of naval operations and counterpart to Admiral Elmo Zumwalt.

He joined the Army, was assigned to Anvil Company of the 10th Mountain Division and was deployed to the Iraq War, serving near Kirkuk.

Tran was serving under Captain Clayton Hinchman who recognized his leadership qualities and made him the radio transmission officer.

[3] During a 15-month recovery at Walter Reed, Hinchman and Tran met Bob Nilsson, who helped reinvent their post-service careers.

[4] Nilsson's efforts led to the creation of a non-profit called 100 Entrepreneurs Foundation Inc., that helps train veterans to start businesses.

[1] Tran also credits his experience in Iraq turning abandoned or won-over outposts into habitable and defensible spaces as part of his training to lead a construction company.

[2] Tran received the ENR Award of Excellence "for his tenacity and courage to recover from devastating injury and to envision—even with just one good eye—a future as a construction-industry CEO who can build San Francisco and careers for his employees and their families; for embracing the obligation and value in hiring veterans in his own company and inspiring peers to do likewise; and for embodying the qualities of what industry needs in its next-generation leaders.