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 grew up in Ky La (later renamed Xa Hoa Qui), a small village in central Vietnam. Her family were peasants who farmed the land. From her father she learned never to retreat from love of her ancestors and her native land, and from her mother she learned humility and the strength of virtue.

In her early teenage years, Hayslip “loved, labored, and fought steadfastly for the Viet Cong against American and South Vietnamese soldiers” (xi). The Viet Cong taught Hayslip that Vietnam was a sovereign nation dominated by imperialists for over 100 years and its division into north and south was a ploy by the French and Americans to retain their influence (xii). The Viet Cong’s teachings were consistent with the lessons from the war against the French. Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Viet Cong, was depicted as family, while the Southern leader, Ngo Dinh Diem, a Catholic and US ally, was deemed foreign.

No one inquired as to the North’s intentions after the war. They fought for a united Vietnam free of colonialism and for food and peace.