Vietnam Man Visits Buford After Purchase

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese businessman Pham Dinh Nguyen flew to the U.S. for the first time, drove to a tiny, frigid trading outpost and bought his own piece of the American dream: Buford, Wyoming — population 1.

Nguyen’s name was not released last week when he won the auction for Buford — billed as the nation’s smallest town — but he has since drawn attention in Vietnamese media and on social networks. Many are lauding him for showing the world that the communist country has moved far beyond war and poverty.

Nguyen runs a trade and distribution company in southern Ho Chi Minh City. He bid $900,000 for Buford, just off Interstate 80, and says he expects to use the town to sell items made in Vietnam.