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

At birth, Hayslip weighed only two pounds and was not expected to survive. While neighbors encouraged her mother to suffocate her, her mother refused. Hayslip was the youngest child and had five siblings. As the sixth child, she was called Bay Ly (Bay means “six” in Vietnamese). Her family thought of the French as snake monsters and they had to evacuate their village at times during French raids. One time, when the French attacked their village, a couple stayed. The woman was raped and both she and her husband were brutally killed. Hayslip’s older sisters prepared gifts for the Viet Minh, who were fighting the French, and villagers helped to feed and hide them. Hayslip’s oldest sister, Hai, was married and had a child by the end of the war with the French. Her husband was arrested and taken away from her during that war. He never returned to her. In 1963, Hai and her daughter moved to Saigon in search of a better life.

That same year, the US bombed Man Quang, where Hayslip’s aunt lived. Her aunt, who had helped her mother, died in that bombing. Hayslip’s mother taught her that people are born with happiness and must keep it. As a girl, Hayslip should learn to be a virtuous wife and serve her husband and mother-in-law. While most marriages were arranged, Hayslip’s parents had chosen each other. Her father was not a violent man but kind. In her village, wife-beating was common. Yet women, trained to respect authority, did not leave their husbands. Hayslip’s parents were hard workers and cultivated rice. Hayslip explains how difficult it is to grow rice, as the plant is fickle and both the planting and harvesting are labor intensive.

The Viet Cong also came to Hayslip’s village of Ky La in 1963. That same year, Hayslip’s brother, Bon Nghe, went to the North to train for military service. In central Vietnam, Ky La had characteristics of both northern and southern Vietnam. The enemy was construed as those of another race, as the French had killed children and others brutally. Villagers told stories detailing how victims died, as it was believed that the manner of death affected their spirits.

Shifting the narrative to 1986, Hayslip left her three sons in the US to return to Vietnam. When she had left the country in 1970, the Viet Cong had a death warrant on her head. Only her oldest son’s father, Anh, knew about her recent travel plans. He was awaiting her arrival in Ho Chi Minh city, the old Saigon.

After her brother Bon went north in 1963, Hayslip paid more attention to her father, Phung Trong. Describing him as easygoing and more lenient than his wife, Hayslip emphasizes his deep understanding of life and aversion to violence. He took pride in his wife and claimed that her work ethic enabled them to have more land. He instructed Hayslip to stay alive, live in peace, and tend to the shrine of her ancestors (40).

Around this time, Republicans were appearing more frequently in her village. While some Americans and Republicans were kind, others were bullies. What is more, Hayslip perceived them to be criminals who might kill her brother. The Viet Cong were also becoming more active. They killed her teacher, who was sympathetic to the South, and then two other alleged traitors, the teacher’s brother and an informant. After that, the Republicans searched the homes of villagers and interrogated them. Hayslip said nothing to them. When the Viet Cong next killed Republican soldiers in their sleep, the Republicans came to the village only during the day.

At night, the Viet Cong came and organized labor squads to dig tunnels. They had children run messages and instructed villagers to build bunkers. Hayslip’s family’s bunker became a model for others. Later, the Viet Cong gave villagers tasks, such as cooking and sewing. The villagers also made items for the Viet Cong, such as booby traps, and stole items from the Republicans to give to the Viet Cong. If caught stealing a weapon, the villager would be arrested and taken away. At this point, the war was a game to the children. The Viet Cong rewarded them for their contributions with medals and placement on the blackboard of honor. They instructed them to die by suicide before giving the enemy information about the movements of the Viet Cong.

More Americans arrived, signaling the war’s expansion. When the Republicans failed to capture Viet Cong on their sweeps in the jungle, they took out their frustrations on the villagers. That then drove more villagers to sympathize with the Viet Cong. Hayslip explains that the Republicans were noisy and carried too much equipment, while the Viet Cong were silent and quick. Once when US helicopters landed, Hayslip stood her ground, earning her accolades from other villagers.

Hayslip was inducted into a secret self-defense force for the Viet Cong. While her job was to warn the Viet Cong about enemy movements between Ky La and the neighboring village, her father assumed the risk. He sent the signals. When away from her local area, the Viet Cong warned Hayslip of incoming bombs. She took shelter but was then presumed by the Republicans to be Viet Cong. Hayslip was arrested, beaten, interrogated, and placed in a small cage for three days. She played the part of a stupid girl, claiming that she had snuck out of her home to follow a parade. On the third day, thanks to her sister Ba’s husband Chin, who worked for the Common Guard, a Republican police force, Hayslip was released.

Shifting back to 1986, Hayslip visited the US and Vietnamese embassies in Bangkok, Thailand. At that time, it was not possible to fly directly from the US to Vietnam. Officials at the US embassy warned her not to return to Vietnam. When she fled her village in 1965, she was on a Viet Cong death list, and in 1970, at the age of 20, she left Saigon amid false charges that she was a black marketeer. Ultimately, she met Per, a Norwegian emissary to the United Nations on technical training in Vietnam, at the Vietnamese embassy. While he urged her to take precautions, he accompanied her on the flight to Vietnam.

After Hayslip returned to Ky La following her release from prison, she noticed lots of American and Republican soldiers. Using the Vietnamese new year of Tet to smuggle weapons and soldiers to the area, the Viet Cong soon launched a major offensive. While the Viet Cong did not take control of Ky La, they killed approximately 50 enemy soldiers. In the aftermath of the attack, American and Republican soldiers went house-to-house searching for Viet Cong hideouts. If found, the soldiers burned the homes and took the occupants away. In this way, two-thirds of the village disappeared. The Viet Cong responded by tightening their grip on the remaining villagers. Alleged spies were convicted in kangaroo courts and executed. As a result, the villagers had equal fear of the Viet Cong and Republicans.

As the war dragged on, there was an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. No one could leave town or speak with outsiders without the permission of the Viet Cong. Food and money were scarce and villagers were condemned for practicing their ancient rights. Hayslip comments that this was a new phase in the war, as the Viet Cong had previously promised to defend ancient rights and independence.

Assigned sentry duty, Hayslip saw a mass of Republican soldiers. Risking her life, she walked past them and took off two shirts. The remaining black shirt signaled a threat to the Viet Cong. In so doing, she prevented a massacre of Viet Cong soldiers. She then pretended to be collecting food and returned home. Later, she and three other girls were arrested and taken to Don Thi Tran prison. Once again, Ba’s husband Chin secured her release but told her that this was the last time he would do so. She was welcomed home as a Viet Cong hero with a song in her honor.

Refugees from another village came to Ky La, including Cuu Loi—a wealthy friend of Hayslip’s father—and his daughter, Thien. Thien, who was arrested multiple times, and Hayslip were close. When they took shelter from bombs in a roadside trench, they were “rousted by soldiers” (95), arrested, and taken to My Thi prison, which was notorious for torture and run by the army. There, Hayslip was repeatedly tortured via electrical shots, beatings, and biting ants. She admitted nothing and then was quickly released. She returned to her sister Ba’s house in Danang where her mother was waiting. Her family had paid a nephew in the army to secure her release.

When Hayslip returned to Ky La, the Viet Cong cast her under suspicion for winning a quick release. One day, it appeared as though she led a Republican squad to the Viet Cong even though that was not the case. Two Viet Cong fighters, Loi and Mau, came to her home and took her to a meeting. While traitors were condemned at the meeting, Hayslip was not named and not thrown into the center of the room. Following the meeting, Loi and Mau took her to a grave in the swamp where Loi raped her. They then told her that she and her family would be killed if she spoke of the rape. That night, they brought her to an aunt’s house. Mau later returned for her and raped her as well. At this point, Hayslip resolved to no longer resist. She did not believe in the goals of either side, both of which made peasant girls the enemy.

Jumping forward to 1986, Hayslip recounts landing in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. When she was processed at the terminal, her passport was returned with a paper directing her to report to a governmental office. She was terrified.