ARLINGTON, VA – A Washington Post column earlier this week highlighted the difficult path that Vietnamese-American Vince Tran took prior to owning an Arlington 7-Eleven store.

Columnist John Kelly highlighted Tran’s story in an effort to shine a light on “the people we see behind a counter or on a street corner, people who maybe don’t quite register as we go about our busy lives.”

Twelve-year old Tran and his mother fled Vietnam on a fishing boat in 1980, two of 600 people looking for a better life in the United States. “We were packed like sardines,” he said.

They were at sea for nearly two weeks, during which pirates attacked the boat 19 times. “Every time we were robbed, we hid it deeper,” Vince said of the gold, jewelry and money the refugees had.

The last pirate crew disabled the ship’s engine, sending the boat to drift for days in the Gulf of Thailand. Finally, a Malaysian navy ship gave them food and water before abandoning the boat in international waters. The boat drifted for several days before it reached shore — which happened to be Malaysia.

The refugees spent a year in a Malaysian refugee camp before immigrating to the United States, first to Florida, then to Virginia.

While a teen in the U.S., Tran worked several jobs and eventually graduated from high school and then George Mason.

After college, Tran worked at a Gulf station in Reston, working his way up the corporate ladder until he was able to purchase a 7-Eleven and Exxon franchise 2.5 years ago.

“Vince never wants his kids to go through what he did, but he wants them to know that life isn’t always easy,” Kelly said.

NACS Magazine featured similar stories of Arlington retailers in January 2012.