The Lotus flower has long held a prominent place in Buddhist thought for its symbolic power—a pure and delicate blossom arising from swampy roots. The metaphor of beauty arising from the mud of human turmoil is an apt one for Tran Van Dinh and Nuong Van Dinh Tran, not only for its obvious parallels to their heroic work for justice and peace amidst the violence of their native Vietnam, but also for the creativity they bring to both politics and art.

After serving for 10 years in the Vietnamese diplomatic service in Southeast Asia, Tran Van Dinh joined the Embassy of Vietnam in Washington DC in 1961. From their post in Washington, the Van Dinhs took in the events of the growing Civil Rights Movement, in particular the 300,000 person March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These events would have a profound impact on their relationship with the United States, and would foreshadow their own immersion into the ongoing struggle for liberation around the globe.

In 1963, Tran was in charge of the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington DC as well as non-resident Ambassador to Argentina. He resigned at the end of 1963 to pursue full time his passion for peace and social justice work. This included teaching courses in Asian Humanism at the State University of New York/Old Westbury and the DagHammarskjold College at Columbia, MD. From 1971 to 1985, he taught International Politics and Communications and chaired the Department of Pan-African Studies at Temple University. Throughout his tenure, he wrote numerous books and contributed hundreds of articles to scholarly and popular publications alike.

While Tran was pursuing his work in the political and academic arenas, Nuong was exploring her many interests in the world of visual art. Trained as a painter and printmaker at the Corcoran School of Art and George Washington University, her talents in a variety of printmaking media and her love of international travel combined to make her work renowned around the world where it is displayed in public and private collections from Moscow’s Pushkin Museum to Library of Congress’ Fine Arts Collection.

In 1988-89, while the Berlin Wall was being torn down half a world away, the Van Dinhs returned to VietNam to break down the barrier that had separated them from their homeland since the war ended. Documenting their trip in an issue of National Geographic, the Van Dinhs were moved as much by the devastation as by the spirit of strength and resistance in the country. They saw the striking contrasts of American soldiers returning to VietNam to disarm mines left in aftermath of the war, and the Vietnamese people welcoming them back as if they were long lost friends.

Through their many decades of work in the cause of international peace and reconciliation, Tran and Nuong Van Dinh have truly become citizens of the world. Their allegiance to the common struggle for justice in the world makes them an ally of all nations. They are examples of what is possible when the creativity and beauty of the human spirit is able to rise in the midst of conflict and be celebrated in all its diverse forms.

William Fulton
Staff Writer, The Veterans of Hope Project
Spring 2004