Thursday is Jane Fonda’s 80th birthday, and it’s a great time to remember her disgusting propaganda trip to North Vietnam in 1972.
For those who don’t know or may have forgotten, Fonda infamously visited North Vietnam during the war. She allowed herself to be photographed among the communist soldiers, and on anti-aircraft weapons, something which she later claimed to regret.
However, Hanoi Jane’s explanation of the situation and her visit hardly excused her actions. She wrote the following:
It happened on my last day in Hanoi. I was exhausted and an emotional wreck after the 2-week visit. It was not unusual for Americans who visited North Vietnam to be taken to see Vietnamese military installations and when they did, they were always required to wear a helmet like the kind I was told to wear during the numerous air raids I had experienced. When we arrived at the site of the anti-aircraft installation (somewhere on the outskirts of Hanoi), there was a group of about a dozen young soldiers in uniform who greeted me. There were also many photographers (and perhaps journalists) gathered about, many more than I had seen all in one place in Hanoi. This should have been a red flag.
…
Here is my best, honest recollection of what happened: someone (I don’t remember who) led me towards the gun, and I sat down, still laughing, still applauding. It all had nothing to do with where I was sitting. I hardly even thought about where I was sitting. The cameras flashed. I got up, and as I started to walk back to the car with the translator, the implication of what had just happened hit me. “Oh my God. It’s going to look like I was trying to shoot down U.S. planes.” I pleaded with him, “You have to be sure those photographs are not published. Please, you can’t let them be published.” I was assured it would be taken care of. I didn’t know what else to do. (I didn’t know yet that among the photographers there were some Japanese.)
Those picture of Fonda on the enemy weapon, which can be seen here, is one of the most famous photos of the war. That’s far from a good thing. The Northern Vietnamese were handed an American star on a platter to be used as a propaganda tool. It’s one thing for POWs to be used for propaganda. That’s part of war. It’s a totally different ballgame when Hollywood stars make their way to a foreign country to be used against America.
She also reportedly claimed American POWs lied about being tortured, and that American leaders were war criminals. Vietnam POWs were treated horribly. The things done to American POWs in Vietnam has been well documented, and it’s far from the definition of being treated well or humanely. She later clarified her statements, but that’s not going to heal the pain those men suffered.
Imagine being tortured, and knowing that an American superstar is telling people you’re a liar. That could break a man’s soul.
Good American men laid their lives down in Vietnam, and plenty more suffered wounds that they’d carry for the rest of their lives. You can be against the war, and still realize what happened to the American military men there was horrifying. I can’t imagine how stupid of an individual you’d have to be to think American POWs would lie about what their captors were doing to them. Senator John McCain suffered unthinkable damage as a POW in Vietnam, which included being beaten “every two to three” hours during stretches of his captivity. Anybody who thinks he was lying can just go ahead and take a look at the limp he still walks with today.
The only Americans it should ever be acceptable to visit the military sites of our enemies are those carrying guns intent on killing those who oppose us. For any American, especially a famous one, to be used as propaganda is at best beyond stupid. At worst, she knew exactly what she was doing, and was throwing our troops under the bus as many died in the field.
Even if she donates a billion dollars to Vietnam vets, it still won’t make up for her decision to visit with the enemy as if it were a casual date for coffee. It was shameful then and it’ll still be shameful 100 years from now.