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The
following pages all for all who may not remember:
Jane Fonda toured North
Vietnam in 1972, during which she cozied up to the enemy, posing for photo
ops with communist troops and broadcasting anti-American propaganda over
Radio Hanoi. (see
Jane Fonda's "Radio Hanoi" Broadcast)
Posing for foreign Press atop a Hanoi Anti Aircraft Gun
click photo to enlarge
Jane Fonda also participated in a
staged press conference with American servicemen held captive by the Viet
Cong, the purpose of which was to "prove" that the POWs were not being
mistreated by their captors. Years later when the released POWs described the
very real torture and degradation they suffered at the hands of the North
Vietnamese, Fonda called them "hypocrites and liars."
Fonda's behavior
at that time, considered treasonous by some, earned her the nickname "Hanoi
Jane" among the veterans and POWs of the Vietnam War, some of whom hate her
to this day.
Since the 1970s
Fonda has revamped her image several times over, rededicating herself to her
acting career, becoming a fitness guru in the early '80s, and marrying
billionaire Ted Turner in 1991. In 1988 she delivered a televised apology to
Vietnam veterans and their families, a gesture that didn't mollify everyone,
but established some distance between the new Fonda and old Fonda, whose
actions, she finally admitted, had been "thoughtless and careless."
As the '90s
progressed, Jane Fonda's past was less frequently brought up as an issue and
seemed to dwindle in importance – until 1999, that is, when Barbara Walters
chose to honor the actress in a TV special called "A Celebration: 100 Years
of Great Women." The announcement of the program – which aired in April of
that year and which did, in fact, honor Jane Fonda – prompted an instant
outcry from veterans and ex-POWs, many of whom vented their indignation via
the Internet. Angry recriminations were posted in newsgroups, published in
newsletters and on Web pages, and forwarded by email.
Unfortunately for Fonda
many of these email stories are only partial truths, heavily
embellished by their creators. This page use to contain one of those stories.
It has recently been pointed out to me that the two POW's Larry
Carrigan and Jerry Driscoll quoted in that story, have
both discounted the story as propaganda stating that they have never met Jane
Fonda.
Apparently bits and pieces of these
texts, along with a few fabrications, were cobbled together by persons
unknown to create the "Hanoi Jane" diatribe which still circulates on the
Internet today. Only parts of it are true.
The above text
are excerpts from an article written
By David Emery for
Urban Legends and Folklore
***At any rate,
without proper verification of truth in either story, I have removed the
cited email version from this web site out of respect for these two POW's.
On the next page
is a transcript of Hanoi Jane's 1972 "Radio Hanoi Broadcast", which is very
true and an official part of the 1972 U.S. Congressional Record
HR 16742.
For
the Record, It is my personal opinion that Jane Fonda was very much a
Traitor and should have been tried for treason, not voted one of the Great
100 Women of the Century!
(see
Jane Fonda's "Radio Hanoi" Broadcast)
Take the Jane Fonda Poll on
the next Page |
