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.