The fateful love story of an American firefighter and a beautiful Vietnamese girl

(Dan Tri) - After being in love for more than a year, Trae decided to propose to Ngoc Thao, but there was no ring in the proposal. However, there was a special reason why Ngoc Thao agreed to become the American man's destiny.

Unexpected change when meeting someone you thought was just... a friend

After a long time living and studying in the US, in 2022, Tran Thi Ngoc Thao (born in 1993) had the opportunity to sign a 2-year contract with a modeling agency in Los Angeles (this agency has a clause that does not allow dating). To pursue her passion in the entertainment industry, the girl also prepared to move from Reno, Nevada to Los Angeles.

The selection, application, training... stages were also completed. However, all plans suddenly changed in an unexpected direction when Thao met the American firefighter - Trae Carter-Wells (born in 1996).

“He and I met 1 month before I was about to sign the contract. I thought we were just friends, but then feelings came naturally. Meeting Trae Carter-wells really changed my life in a different direction, changing all my future plans,” Ngoc Thao shared with Dan Tri reporter .

Recalling the chance meeting, the girl said that the two met when Thao was a DJ (mixing music and playing recordings at parties). At that time, because she wanted to focus on work, she did not want to approach or communicate with many people.

However, the American guy's cheerfulness and cuteness impressed her. While chatting, Thao realized that before becoming a firefighter, Trae was also a very good DJ. This common point brought the two closer together.

Couple Ngoc Thao and Trae Carter-wells.

For his part, the American soldier was attracted by Ngoc Thao's confident musical style, pretty face and smile. He had a very good impression of her, but because he had just been accepted as a firefighter for more than 6 months, he only wanted to maintain their relationship as friends to focus on his work.

But it seemed that reason could not overcome the heart. After the first meetings, the couple always missed each other. Two months of friendship made them realize many similarities, comfort and closeness when being together, so they decided to go on a date.

Ngoc Thao still remembers their first date when they went to a restaurant together. That night, Trae ordered grilled pork ribs, but perhaps because he was shy in front of his girlfriend, he used a knife and fork to eat the ribs.

“I wondered why he had to do that and used his hands to eat comfortably, which made him laugh,” Ngoc Thao recalled.

That moment made the American guy feel happy and more moved because it seemed like their feelings had overcome their fears. They could be themselves when they were together.

Ngoc Thao's first birthday after the two met also brought her many memories.

She said: “At that time, we had only known each other for a month and Trae had just started working as a firefighter so his income was not much. However, he still bought me a necklace, took me out to dinner, took care of my beauty... I was very touched and said that I just needed a cozy dinner to be happy. In response, he said that since it was our first birthday together, he wanted me to celebrate my new age more specially than usual.”

The sincere love and delicate gestures of the American firefighter made their relationship even stronger.

Both found many similarities in each other.

After being in love for over a year, Trae decided to propose but the proposal did not include a ring. Despite the lack of an important symbol, Ngoc Thao still accepted her boyfriend's proposal because to her, his love was more important than any ring. The American guy's sincerity really moved her.

Ngoc Thao recalls: "That time, Trae's family had a sad event. I ran around taking care of many things. Too emotional, he knelt down and said he wanted to marry me. He also expressed that he didn't have a ring in his hand, nor had he prepared anything, but one thing he was sure of was that he only wanted to marry me for the rest of his life and he would strive to bring me a happy life. From then on, wherever we went, whoever asked, we admitted that we were each other's soon-to-be-married couple."

In early 2025, keeping his promise, the American firefighter bought a ring, proposed to his girlfriend once more, and returned to Vietnam to meet her family and hold an engagement ceremony.

Spend a month learning just 4-5 lines and the Vietnamese wedding proposal went viral

The couple's engagement ceremony took place in March 2025. The American man loved Vietnamese traditional customs so he proactively learned about the rituals and prepared appropriate costumes and gifts.

In particular, he also spent time learning Vietnamese with the hope that during the engagement ceremony, he could ask for permission to marry in Vietnamese to show his respect to Ngoc Thao's parents, family, and friends.

“He asked my sister to teach him Vietnamese. Because he wanted to surprise me, he wrote a draft himself and asked my sister to translate it into Vietnamese and practiced reading it for a month even though it was only 4-5 lines,” the girl said.

Trae seemed to want to keep his Vietnamese proposal a secret from his girlfriend. However, the fact that he diligently opened his phone every day to practice pronunciation made it easy for Ngoc Thao to guess her boyfriend's plan.

The couple at the engagement ceremony in Vietnam.

During the engagement ceremony, the American guy seemed to put all his feelings into each word: “Dear Dad, dear Mom, I thank you and your family for loving me. Today, I want to ask you to let me marry Thao and I hope you will bless us.

I promise to treat you as my own parents. I promise to take care of, love and protect Thao as well as my parents and family. I thank you, Mom, Dad and my two sisters very much. I thank everyone very much.”

Listening to the emotional words, although not pronounced clearly, Ngoc Thao's parents, two sisters and many guests could not help but be moved. It seemed that everyone understood the young man's sincere feelings.

Previously, when they first heard that their daughter was in love with an American guy, who was 1.9m tall and handsome, looking at the photo on the phone, Ngoc Thao's parents couldn't help but worry. They were both afraid that their daughter wouldn't be treated well because Trae's appearance looked "a bit fierce".

However, when Ngoc Thao brought her boyfriend home to meet her family, the whole family clearly felt the friendliness, cheerfulness, and caring nature of the American guy, so they wholeheartedly supported the couple's relationship.

Trae's parents have long considered Ngoc Thao as their own daughter. They often text and chat with her every day, go out, and eat together in their free time.

Looking back on the journey, Ngoc Thao shared that she has no regrets when thinking about giving up a good job opportunity to listen to her heart's calling. Currently, both have bought a small house, Ngoc Thao works as a cosmetic tattoo artist, while Trae focuses on his job as a firefighter.

In their free time, they work as DJs at clubs. They both focus on saving money to prepare for their plan to have children and plan to return to Vietnam once a year to visit family and friends.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/doi-song/chuyen-tinh-dinh-menh-cua-chang-linh-cuu-hoa-my-va-co-gai-viet-xinh-dep-20250619155216134.htm