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

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to war, torture, death, suicide, and sexual abuse.

Hayslip’s earliest memories date to the war against the French, whom she considered monsters. Everyone in her village fled when the French came. Once when a couple stayed behind, the French brutally killed them both. Hayslip’s oldest sister, Hai, was widowed as a result of the war with the French. The war with the Americans was even more devastating. Both soldiers and civilians were killed in massive numbers, and while she survived, Hayslip experienced the pain of such losses on a personal level. Farmlands were ruined, as were villages. The psychological impact of the war exerted an enormous toll, with Hayslip’s father ultimately dying by suicide because of it. Both the Republicans and Viet Cong tortured individuals, at times innocent civilians, and therefore dehumanized their enemies. Women were particularly vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual exploitation, as Hayslip experienced.

Because of the violence of the war, Hayslip had many close to her die. Sau Ban, Hayslip’s brother, had to flee Ky La to evade the Republican draft. The family was horrified to imagine Sau Ban fighting against his own brother, Bon Nghe, who was enlisted with the Viet Cong. While Sau Ban was able to join the Viet Cong, he died from a land mine and his body was not recovered. The absence of a body made the death especially hard for his mother to accept. Hayslip was close to Sau Ban, who had taken care of her as a child, and was devastated by the loss. Hayslip was also touched by the death of an aunt and Bac Luc, whom she considered a surrogate mother. Bac Luc and her son were shot down by an American helicopter when they were running for cover. While her son died, Bac Luc sustained serious injuries, including paralysis, and was left with no one to care for her. She subsequently died. In a war with so many civilians killed, the deaths of these three touched Hayslip personally. Her village of Ky La was almost entirely burned, with the land devastated.

Hayslip herself was also a victim of violence. Both Hayslip and her mother had been working for the Viet Cong, but in an atmosphere of mistrust, they were branded enemies. Hayslip was raped twice by Viet Cong soldiers and her mother was almost shot and then put under house arrest. Ironically, Hayslip had previously been tortured by the Republicans and did not disclose any information about the Viet Cong. Both sides engaged in torture and dehumanization, cheapening the lives of all. Left alone, Hayslip’s father fell apart psychologically. He drank heavily. After two American soldiers died in an explosion, he was wrongly arrested and tortured. Upon his return to Ky La, he was ill and, after surviving one attempt, died by suicide. That devastating news came to Hayslip and her sister from Chin and all three grieved.

The war also brought special perils for women, many of whom were sexually exploited and trafficked. Hayslip endured rape twice and almost a third time but was saved by an American helicopter which caused her attackers to scatter. The power differential between Vietnamese women and American men during the war led to relationships in which women were abused and manipulated. Hayslip and her sister Lan were nearly killed by American soldiers with whom they had relationships. On at least three occasions, Hayslip was betrayed by Americans whom she thought loved her. The war forced Hayslip to make money in ways that at times made her feel cheapened and provoked self-loathing. However, she survived the devastation and did the best she could for those she loved.