The San Diego World Affairs Council and National University present the Distinguished Speaker Series Le Ly Hayslip in conversation with Professor Gregory Daddis Presenting:"Beyond the American Lens: The Legacy of War, Transgenerational Trauma, Reconciliation, and Healing" San Diego World Affairs Council is pleased to partner with National University to engage the public on this timely topic, as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. This program will be structured as a guided conversation between Daddis and Hayslip, including ample time for participant questions and answers. About Le Ly Hayslip | Le Ly is an internationally known Vietnamese-American author, philanthropist, peace activist, and speaker. She grew up in Ky La (now known as Xa Hoa Quy), Vietnam during the American-Vietnam War. She wrote two best-selling memoirs—When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Child of War, Woman of Peace, based on her painful and ultimately triumphant journey from a traumatizing childhood in war-ravaged Vietnam to her new life in America. Having grown up in Central Vietnam as a woman, Le Ly shares a perspective that is unique when it comes to the Vietnam War. She received raving reviews for both books, including from The New York Times and The Washington Post. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places was included in the 1990 edition of Reader’s Digest’s Today’s Best Nonfiction. Her memoirs, having been published in 17 different languages throughout the world, are now used in several universities as course material to study women in history, the American/Vietnam War, and other topics. In 1993, the books were adapted into the film “Heaven & Earth,” directed by the award-winning director Oliver Stone and starring Hiep Thi Le and Tommy Lee Jones. Le Ly’s life as a humanitarian began after she arrived in the US in 1970 and became a US citizen, but returned to her native Vietnam in 1986. Her shock from the devastation, poverty, and illness left by the war became the impetus for her two philanthropic organizations, East Meets West Foundation and Global Village Foundation. Both organizations dedicate their efforts to humanitarian relief, education, and development to help rebuild Vietnam through providing basic needs (shelter, clean water, medical facilities, education), establishing revolving loan programs, and finding homes for several hundreds of orphaned children. Hayslip continues to lead groups and delegations in cultural and anthropological studies in her home village. About Professor Gregory Daddis | Gregory is the Director of the Center for War and Society and the USS Midway Chair in Modern U.S. Military History. Originally from the Garden State of New Jersey, he holds a bachelor of science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a master’s degree from Villanova University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduating from West Point, he served for 26 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel. He is a veteran of both Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom and his military awards include the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, and the Meritorious Service Medals. His final assignment in the army was as the Chief of the American History Division in the Department of History at the United States Military Academy. Daddis specializes in Cold War history with an emphasis on the American war in Vietnam. He has authored five books, including his most recent with Cambridge University Press, Pulp Vietnam: War and Gender in Cold War Men's Adventure Magazines (2020). Daddis also has published a trilogy on the American war in Vietnam with Oxford University Press: Withdrawal: Reassessing America’s Final Years in Vietnam (2017), Westmoreland’s War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam (2014) and No Sure Victory: Measuring U.S. Army Effectiveness and Progress in the Vietnam War (2011). Additionally, he has published scholarly articles in some of his field’s leading journals, to include The Journal of Cold War Studies, The Journal of Military History, and The Journal of Strategic Studies.
