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It's not directional. It's a shut off valve. Just hook it up inline and hook up the vacuum hose.
If you're worried, hook up the vacuum hose first and play with the selector before you cut the heater hose. You can see how it works by blowing into the different tubes.
If you trace the lines back to the block, you should be able to figure it out, but in reality, it doesn't matter. Even if you block off the return path, the water sitting in the lines and heater core will provide enough back pressure to stop the flow of hot coolant from reaching the cab.