Le Ly Hayslip (; born Phùng Thị Lệ Lý; December 19, 1949) is a

Vietnamese-American Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese people, Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth ...

writer, memoirist and humanitarian. Through her foundations, she has worked to rebuild cultural bridges between Vietnam and America following the Vietnam War.

Early life

Hayslip was born in Ky La village in Hoa Quy, now a district of

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

in central

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. She was the sixth and youngest child born to farmers. American helicopters landed in her village when she was 12 years old. At the age of 14, she endured torture in a South Vietnamese government prison for "revolutionary sympathies".

Life in Vietnam and the United States

She fled to

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, where she and her mother worked as housekeepers for a wealthy Vietnamese family, but this position ended after Hayslip's affair with her employer and subsequent pregnancy. Hayslip and her mother fled to

. During this time, Hayslip supported both her mother and an infant son, Hung (whom she would later rename Jimmy), while unmarried and working in the black market, as an occasional drug courier and, once, as a prostitute. She worked for a short period of time as a nurse assistant in a Da Nang hospital and began dating Americans. She had several unsuccessful relationships before meeting and marrying an American civilian contractor named Ed Munro in 1969. Although he was more than twice her age, she had another son with him, Thomas. The following year Hayslip moved to San Diego, California, to join him, and briefly supported her family as a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

. In 1973, he died of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

, leaving Le Ly a widow at age 24. In 1974 she married Dennis Hayslip. Her second marriage, however, was not a happy one. Dennis was a heavy drinker, clinically depressed and full of rage. Her third and youngest son, Alan, was fathered by Dennis and born on her 26th birthday. The couple filed for divorce in 1982 after Dennis committed

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. Shortly thereafter, he was found dead in a parked van outside a school building. He had established a

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

, however, that left his wife with some money, and he had insurance that paid off the mortgage of the house.

Books

Her first book, '' When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace'' ( Doubleday, 1989), tells the story of her somewhat peaceful early childhood and war-torn adolescence. The nonlinear structure alternates between the narration of her life in Vietnam as a child and her first return to Vietnam and her family in 1986. The two stories are interwoven to show the circular nature of Hayslip's journey, both her physical journey and her emotional one. Her second memoir, ''Child of War, Woman of Peace'' ( Doubleday, 1993), continues the same themes in a more linear narrative. Set in the United States during the final years of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Hayslip must deal with an alien culture and the idea that she may never be able to return to her family and native country, where she is viewed as a traitor. Her tenacity and business skills help her profit, and eventually, she is able to found the East Meets West Foundation, a charitable group dedicated to improving the health and welfare of the Vietnamese, as well as creating self-sufficiency of the people to run the programs started in Vietnam by East Meets West. This memoir documents not only her struggles and successes in the United States but also her growing need to help heal the pain caused by the Vietnam War in both the United States and in Vietnam. The 1993 film '' Heaven & Earth'', directed by

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

, is based on her life. She also has a cameo appearance in the film. Le Ly Hayslip founded two charitable organizations: East Meets West Foundation and Global Village Foundation for humanitarian and emergency assistance to the needy in

and some other countries in Asia.

Awards

In 1995, Le Ly Hayslip was honored by the California State Assembly award in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

for her humanitarian and reconciliation activities.Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) – Open Forum ''Psychosocial Response to Disasters''
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Bibliography

*'' When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace'' ( Doubleday, 1989) *''Child of War, Woman of Peace'' (Doubleday, 1993)

Filmography

*'' Heaven & Earth'' (1993)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayslip, Le Ly 1949 births Living people American memoirists American Buddhists Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Vietnamese women writers Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Writers of Vietnamese descent American writers of Vietnamese descent Women in the Vietnam War Vietnam War torture victims American women memoirists Child prisoners of war