Thom Tran’s military service was no laughing matter–until comedy helped him survive it.
Tran enlisted in the Army while still in high school, following a legacy of family service.
“My dad was a South Vietnamese Air Force pilot. He escaped a POW camp,” Tran recalled.
He hoped to become a radio host on AFN, inspired by Robin Williams in “Good Morning Vietnam.”
“It was the first real adult decision I made,” he said. “I wanted to do something that made people feel better.”
But the Army had other plans.
“The recruiter told me that job wasn’t available. So instead, four days after crossing into Iraq, I got shot in the back of the head.”
Tran stayed and finished his deployment. But just two weeks before coming home, his friend and roommate was killed by a roadside bomb. He returned to the U.S. physically wounded and emotionally shattered. He was medically discharged–cutting short the 20-year military career he had planned.
“One gunshot to the head changes everything.”
He tried to bury the trauma. Alcohol became a coping mechanism. Stress consumed him.
“I nearly had a heart attack at 24. My blood pressure was off the charts. That was my wake-up call.”
So he pivoted–landing in a radio booth, the job he’d once hoped to do in uniform. Then a friend who owned a comedy club asked him to host a show. Tran gave it a shot.
“I thought it would be an easy transition from radio, I was terrible at first,” he laughed. “But I kept doing it. Somewhere along the way, I found healing in comedy.”
Today, comedy is more than a stage for Tran — it’s therapy. “It’s what heals me. Or helps me heal. It’s a constant process.”
His sets include military jokes, but they’re not just about service–they’re about life.
“I was a soldier, sure. But I’m also a guitarist, a nerd, a foodie, a cat dad. I want people to laugh with me, and maybe see themselves in me too.”
There was a time Tran considered walking away from the military altogether.
“There was a time I fell out of love with the Army because I thought it wasn’t a part of my life anymore,” he said. “I called USAA to ask if I could still keep my account after I got out. They said, ‘Of course. Thank you for your service.’ It sounds small, but it reminded me that I’ll always be part of this community.”
Now he uses humor to take care of that community.
“Comedy became my way of taking care of myself. But it also became my way of taking care of other soldiers.”
Tran sees his stand-up as a message for those transitioning out:
“Inevitably, I have someone come up to me after a show and say, ‘Wait–this dude used to jump out of planes, and now he’s telling jokes?’ And that makes them think, ‘Maybe I can make it too’.”
“I’m not in the Army anymore, but I still take care of Joes. I just do it with a microphone.”
