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Born 1949
Ky La, Vietnam

Vietnamese writer and humanitarian

Le Ly Hayslip is best known as the author of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, a memoir about her experiences growing up in a South Vietnamese village during the Vietnam War. When she was a teenager, Hayslip became involved with the Communist guerrilla fighters known as the Viet Cong. She spent several years carrying messages and setting booby traps to help the Viet Cong in their fight against American and South Vietnamese government forces. When it became clear that her life was in danger from both sides, Hayslip moved to Saigon for several years. In 1970 she escaped to the United States. Since then, she has established a humanitarian organization to help the American and Vietnamese people come to terms with the war.

Childhood in a war-torn...