When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace

By 1968, it was apparent to Hayslip that the Viet Cong had the numbers and would defeat the Americans. The corruption of the Republican fighters contributed to their weaknesses, as they would allow contraband through checkpoints for bribes. They assumed that it was liquor when in fact it was weapons. Spies infiltrated the South as well. Dead soldiers were also kept on Republican payrolls, preventing their families from receiving stipends.

Hayslip was dismayed by the corruption and the treatment of people. She explains that young women who escaped war in the countryside were trafficked in Vietnam and elsewhere. They were promised jobs as maids only to be captured and exploited. Those who ran away were beaten if caught. Sex workers had a better situation, but they too risked serious diseases and brutality. Hayslip witnessed the discovery of a woman’s mutilated body in the trash. Impressed with those who did their best in difficult circumstances for themselves and those they loved, Hayslip was disheartened that others forced their loved ones into commercial sexual exploitation.

On her return to Vietnam in 1986, Hayslip approached her sister Hai, who was selling snails at the market. Hai, who displayed the signs of a hard, peasant life, was cold and sent Hayslip away. Fearing that she had endangered her family, Hayslip was regretting her visit. However, at Tinh’s house, Hai welcomed Hayslip and asked about Hung. There was fear of association with an American in public, as there were many who would condemn the family for it. Hayslip’s brother, Bon Nghe, came to Tinh’s house and met Hayslip for the first time since 1963. A “dedicated party man” (269), Bon Nghe took after his mother and was serious. Their introduction was somewhat tense until Hayslip assured him that all rules were followed for her visit. He then warmed to her but would not accept any gifts, stipulating that he and she had “different hearts and minds” (274). He would file paperwork for an official visit at which they would pretend to be meeting for the first time. Warning her not to go to Ky La, Bon Nghe let Hayslip know of the negative consequences of such a visit for her mother from villagers. Indeed, Tinh made sure that wrappers from the American candies were burned to eradicate all evidence of them.

Hayslip’s Uncle Luc’s wife, Bac Luc, had been like a surrogate mother. Hayslip was thus dismayed to hear that Bac Luc’s son was killed by gunfire from a US helicopter and Bac Luc herself was shot, leaving her paralyzed and blind in one eye. Both were shot while simply trying to run for cover. There was only one boy who cared for Bac Luc, but he too was soon killed in an American ambush when fishing. Hayslip visited Bac Luc and cared for her. When she was unable to get there for a few weeks, she returned to find Bac Luc dehydrated, without food, and unable to crawl to the toilet. Hayslip washed and fed her. When Bac Luc died soon thereafter, Hayslip marched behind her coffin as a daughter would. Hayslip comments that the village of Ky La was filled with such ghosts. The past was on the verge of being forever lost. She resolved to look West to ensure the survival of her son, herself, and her father’s spirit.

In the new Vietnam of 1986, Hayslip explains that it is “better to blend in than stick out” (282). She went, as required, to the Ban Viet Kieu office to confirm her remaining travel arrangements. This governmental office presided over all visiting Vietnamese who left the homeland to live elsewhere. Hayslip would be taken on a government-sponsored tour of the countryside and would have dinner with Anh and party officials. Before that, she went to Tinh’s where she found her mother. Hayslip showed her mother, whose hands were “skin on bone” (285), pictures of Hung and her mother expressed pride in his intelligence and good looks. Expressing pride in Bon Nghe as well, her mother inquired about Lan but did not ask about Hayslip’s life in the US. Hayslip was disappointed about this but glad to be able to hug her mother.

Recounting what it was like after liberation, Hayslip’s mother claimed that “heaven and earth changed places” (291). She almost died twice, once attacked by wild dogs. Because of an experience with a snake coming into her home, her mother was convinced that Sau Ban was dead and that his spirit had appeared via the snake. That helped her make peace with his death. Hayslip noted that she would be sad not to see Ba, but her mother condemned Hayslip’s sister for keeping gifts when the whole family needed help. Ba’s husband, Chin, was sent to a re-education camp for five years and turned out to be a good man. Having gotten word that his mother was at Tinh’s, Bon Nghe came to visit again. His mother chastised him for not accepting Hayslip’s gifts but he refused to do so. Hayslip and Bon Nghe had a good conversation nonetheless.