Just before that experience, she said the words that continued to play through her head were: All men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. T. Jefferson. During an interview with Barbara Walters 35 years ago, Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda apologized for being used as propaganda for North Vietnam when we were still fighting North Vietnam. There's nothing like a historian 'cherry-picking' his citations or only presenting a partial 'truth' from his source. Alisyn Camerota hosted a number of Fox News programs during a 16-year run that ended in 2014. CHRIS WALLACE: Your most famous protest was 50 years ago when you went to North Vietnam at the height of the war there. I mean, he realized that. COLMES: She did say that she was sorry. The cover called her Ms. placement: 'Right Rail Thumbnails', Please, you cant let them be published. Screw you. quote: Fonda was a political activist in the counterculture era during the tips@mediaite.com. "Because of this," the narrative continues, "I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees with outstretched arms with a piece of steel placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane every time my arms dipped." Her rebellion against the foreign policies of the United States suggested to many outraged Americans that treason might have an All-American face, a familiar accent, and be closer to home than the Other that had previously been assumed to embody the enemy. Manywere there to protest the Vietnam War. "VIET NAM: A repeat scenario was played 10 years later under another banker-picked Democratic administration. I mean, that's like the bank robber saying, "I'm sorry I got caught.". But he never met Jane Fonda, and he has no idea how the maddening tale attached itself to him. She called our POWs hypocrites and liars and referred to their torture as understandable. Just another old women of no consequence, don't give her any credit for ending the war, people like John Kerry and Max Cleland don't even think it's over yet. Copyright 1949-2022 American Heritage Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. www.DanandGEnterprises.com Id been getting pretty sour about the incensed patriots who would curse me and my family and confidently speak on behalf of all veterans living and dead, and the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress, to declare I was a disgrace to America for running that storythen conclude by smugly assuring me they would never read it. I would like to hear more about this. Listen closely. A photograph caught her looking through the scope of an anti-aircraft gun, surrounded by revolutionaries. but not for the rest of it. False. If a prisoner tried to escape, it is quite understandable that he would probably be beaten and tortured., Also Read: How Jane Fonda Explains 'Hanoi Jane': 'Regret to My Dying Day', Even she had to apologize years later for that gun picture True. Fonda said that whileshe may have been tricked into taking the picture, The buck stops here. They hadnt been able to vote on the virtues of the conflict, and they found themselves in mortal peril in the midst of an ugly, painful ordeal that a lot of vocal people back home thought was a criminal enterprise. Those words were written by Michael Benge, a civilian advisor captured by the Viet Cong in 1968 and held as a POW for 5 years. I went to a session at the 2003 Peace History Society Conference in Mt. She called the POW's liars. Thats what made me laugh. NORTH: Irrefutable for the three things she did, and I defined for you the rule, the actual constitutional language defining treason. I mean, he realized that . In 1972, the Academy Award-winning actress and activist traveled to North Vietnam and was photographed laughing and clapping along with Vietnamese soldiers. This story hearkens to a real visit to North Vietnam by Jane Fonda in July of 1972, but the stories about betraying POWs is not true. The Fonda trip became unforgettable because it infuriated Americans, especially Americans in uniform, many of whom still regard her as a traitor. The story surfaced on the Internet in 1999, and my guess is that it will live there a long time. [2] Peter Collier, The Fondas; A Hollywood Dynasty. She also spoke about her infamous protests. There's no denying that she defamed POWs by whitewashing the Viet Cong's treatment of them and later calling them liars when they spoke out." But the action that still enrages veterans most was that photograph of her with North Vietnamese troops onan antiaircraft gunthat would have been used to shoot down American planes. That is not my place. She said It is possible it was a setup, I will never know. Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images "It was a very tumultuous and polarized time," she said in the HBO documentary. I sang a song. Andrea Tantaros, former co-host of "The Five," filed a lawsuit saying that Fox News operated like a "sex-fueled, Playboy-Mansion-like cult.". He was denied his request to gather intelligence by aerial reconnaissance over China. Have a tip or story idea? Hanoi Jane told 60 Minutes that photos snapped while she sat on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal and the largest lapse of judgment I can imagine. Though she did say, meeting the locals, other artists, and intellectuals were well worth it. One of the times it did, Im happy to say, was with Keith Nolan, the author of several books on the war, most recently Ripcord , a superb account of the 101st Airborne in the conflicts last great battle. It was to these traditional Americans, alienated by the Sixties, that the email was targeted, playing on their hopes that finally, at long last, Jane Fonda would have to answer for her choices. Why are people more angry at Jane Fonda that they are against, say, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, the people really responsible? We have no right to attack that country. Hows this for a story? How unfair! mode: 'thumbnails-b', She apologized for being on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun site. For example, she went on Radio Hanoi a number of times, while our troops, your friends, were being shot at by an enemy in Vietnam, saying our POWs were in good health. Troop D, 1st squadron, 4th Cavalry, RVN, 1966-7 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you, G.I. Its something very like the worst sort of lovers betrayal, the deep wound that time itself often is powerless to heal. Megyn Kelly ended her 12-year run with Fox News in early 2017 in exchange for a weekday show at NBC. Rudi Bakhtiar jumped from CNN to Fox News in 2006. And I was I was like a limp noodle what I had experienced and what I had seen, I just I wasnt able to resist, they said were gonna take you out here today. They held signs that read Forgive? NORTH (on camera): What did the guys in your squad say about this? They realized that the war was wrong, that we werent wanted there. "War Stories," Colonel, we'll be watching this Sunday, 8 p.m. as usual. NORTH: The real story about Vietnam. They called it FTA, which they said stood for Free the Army, but it was also a not-so-subtle nod to the expression f the Army.. We're going to take them out. They realized that the war was wrong, that we werent wanted there. Since the dawn of the Internet and a spate of anti-Fonda websites, there have been many fabrications and exaggerations regarding her actions, but her photo ops and press conferences to "give aid and comfort to the enemy" are not and never were in question. Thats all the ground troops were Read on. She said: I have very few regrets. As the war raged, the one-time blonde bombshell cut her naturally brown hair short, trading sex appeal for liberal activism and rebranding herself as a political crusader against the war. Support with a donation>>. ED GRUMMETT, USMC: The night before we made the landing at Chu Yuan (ph) we were listening to Hanoi Hannah and how they were going to annihilate us on the beach. And, you know, I think they thought, Oh, shes this white privilege rich, famous daughter of all of that stuff. I dont think they know, Fonda said in a news conference when she returned home. JANE FONDA: Well, I didnt like it. Id been getting pretty sour about the incensed patriots who would curse me and my family and confidently speak on behalf of all veterans living and dead, and the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress, to declare I was a disgrace to America for running that storythen conclude by smugly assuring me they would never read it. In 1972, Fonda toured North Vietnam, where she spoke against U.S. military policy in the country. Fonda shakes the last hand, then turns to the officer and gives him the fistful of messages. Fonda told the audience that their protests saddened her. Due to the pressure of so-called "rationalists", Article VI, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution forbids Congress from excluding Communists, Anti-Semites, or Globalists from its membership, allowing the control that you decry. But Jane Fonda: Cancel my subscription! Truman refused. Even she had to apologize years later for that gun picture, but not for the rest of it. Heres what she said in 2011: In my anger at the torture story that was being allowed to spread, at how the entire situation was being manipulated, I made a mistake I deeply regret. It was treason, nothing more and nothing less. I wanted to tell them what I was seeing as an American on the ground there. One showed her applauding North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gunners. It was my mistake, and I have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for it. Perhaps most dramatically, in March 1973, the Maryland state legislature held a hearing to have Fonda and her films barred from the state. "KOREA: Shortly thereafter Truman, with Congress averting its eyes, committed U.S. troops to Korea. There is no doubt these treasonous no-win US wars were meant to disillusion the American nation into accepting loss of sovereignty and one world government." CHRIS WALLACE: Your most famous protest was 50 years ago when you went to North Vietnam at the height of the war there. And I didnt even think and they sang me a song and Im made me laugh. And you were photographed sitting on an anti aircraft gun. Finally the brainwashed, confused, exhausted American public forced our government to surrender. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, If even one of them were true, it would change the entire focus of my article. Also Read: Megyn Kelly Trashed by Rosie O'Donnell as 'Spineless Wanna Be Barbie' for Jane Fonda Spat. They hadnt been able to vote on the virtues of the conflict, and they found themselves in mortal peril in the midst of an ugly, painful ordeal that a lot of vocal people back home thought was a criminal enterprise. . Her suit was later settled for a reported $20 million. During her two-week stay, Fonda concluded that America She has said that she regrets doing this. An analogy: I'm more upset by somebody coming into my house and stealing from me than I am by a tax increase, or even by government malfeasance. She still does not know what she did wrong. Market data provided by Factset. She was dubbed "Hanoi Jane" after traveling to the Communist capital. Legal Statement. The great General Douglas MacArthur drove the North Koreans, led by Red Chinese Please support this 72-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage. Over the years, as Fonda reinvented herself as a fitness maven and again a movie star, she apologized many times for the antiaircraft gunphoto. The day anti-Vietnam War protesters tried to levitate the Pentagon. CHRIS WALLACE: So when you say it was a terrible mistake. I have had my say. Do any right-wingers ever decry the fact that Bush and the conservatives overthrew Aristide because he was a socialists----then invited the Chinese Communists in to our hemisphere? Also Read: 'Jane Fonda in Five Acts' Film Review: Doc Explores the Many Lives of the Actress-Activist, She posed on an antiaircraft gun used to shoot down our American pilots. True, by Fondas admission. How Jane Fondas 1972 trip to North Vietnam earned her the nickname Hanoi Jane, The 27 best things to do in D.C. this weekend and next week, Tom Wilson gives Capitals a boost on an otherwise painful night in Anaheim, Corey Dickerson aims to lead and have a bounce-back year with Nats. After all, she is an American; surely shell carry the message home to the families that their husband or son is alive. But because of the nature of Vietnam, McNamara said to me, if wed known what we know now it would have we should not have gone out. These men were bombing and strafing and napalming the country, she said, according to an Associated Press report in April 1973, which quoted an interview she gave to KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. America. The Ms. , we thought, would signal a bit of ironic distance from the broad, ingenu- ous affection contained in Miss America., It evidently didnt. In July of 1972, she made two trips to Hanoi which earned her the nickname Hanoi Jane. As I tell my students when we discuss the proper use of testimony, we probably ought not to listen to Jane Fonda on things dealing with foreign affairs but if our goal is to rid our aging bodies from the ravages of cellulite then Fonda can be considered an authority! Nevertheless, there are Vietnam veterans out there who served in the war zone before 1969 who are convinced that Jane Fonda was in cahoots with the Commies during their own tours. In no sense am I a Fonda apologist. After Fonda returned from hertrip, the State Department spoke out against her. I will never know. It wasnt firing at the time, and Fonda said in 2011 she hardly even thought about where I was sitting and that it is possible that it was a set up, that the Vietnamese But In fact, when the Tet Offensive broke, Jane Fonda was the featured pinup girl in that months issue of Leatherneck , the official publication of the Marines.. Fondas transformation from actress to activist began several years earlier. In another she was looking into the Yeah, said my stepdaughter, Jill, when I told her about this. Watch above via HBO Max and CNNs Whos Talking to Chris Wallace. America. The Ms. , we thought, would signal a bit of ironic distance from the broad, ingenu- ous affection contained in Miss America. Joe? The Roger Ailes and Bill OReilly scandals have cast even some old departures in a new light. The buck stops here. She said: I have very few regrets. I mean, the reality of it is that's not an apology. I have great, great children, talented, smart, and I just didnt know how to do it. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, Megyn Kelly Trashed by Rosie O'Donnell as 'Spineless Wanna Be Barbie' for Jane Fonda Spat, 'Jane Fonda in Five Acts' Film Review: Doc Explores the Many Lives of the Actress-Activist, How Jane Fonda Explains 'Hanoi Jane': 'Regret to My Dying Day', said she was among those at Fox News sexually harassed by Ailes. Number two: You've got the POW meeting, where she sits down and holds a press conference for propaganda purposes with these prisoners of war. JANE FONDA: it was a mistake to go, I never wanted to go to any military installations. They landed two months later on 7 May with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. But when you know why you did something, and youre willing to admit the mistakes that you made, but stand up for the things that you did that that mattered? All rights reserved. I am trying to show up now.. Politicians make mistakes that affect the body politic and statesmen sometimes direct a foreign policy that disregards individuals in the national interest. Now, aid and comfort can be measured a lot of ways. I remember one retired lieutenant colonel describing a conversation he had with an angry trooper about the treasonous behavior of Jane Fonda in the midst of the 1968 Tet Offensive. Putnams Sons. And I didnt even think and they sang me a song and Im made me laugh. She posed on an anti-aircraft gun used to shoot down our American pilots. "Happening Now" anchor Jenna Lee announced that she was leaving the Fox Newsafter working there for 10 years. North Vietnam, 1972,: Jane Fonda is in the midst of her visit when an N.V.A. SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Jane Fonda says she is sorry for some of her actions during the Vietnam War. Thank you, sir. How did we get into this war? It evidently didnt. Denying a final victory over a dedicated and skilled marxist enemy was a recipe for the murder of our men. When Jane Fonda Rocked the U.S. Army A newly exhumed documentary delves into the actresss anti-Vietnam vaudeville tour of American military bases in 1972. North Vietnamese press reported and Fonda later confirmed that she made several radio announcements over the Voice of Vietnam radio to implore U.S. pilots to stop the bombings. Here are her comments: Many of our veterans still call her Hanoi Jane thanks to her radio broadcasts, which attempted to shame American troops. Ms. Fonda's actions, however, directly affected helpless individual captives and their families. It's not just handing out, you know, blankets. HANNITY: All right. And, as she does, each POW palms her a scrap of paper with his Social Security number written on it. And four months later, the bombing stopped of the dikes. JANE FONDA: It was a terrible mistake. Heres her explanation, from 2011: I had decided to do the broadcasts because I was so horrified by the bombing of civilian targets and I wanted to speak to U.S. pilots as I had done on so many occasions during my visits to U.S. military bases and at G.I. So did Joan Baez and William Sloane Coffin, Noam Chomsky and Pete Seeger, Rennie Davis and Judy Collins. She continued openly to question the accounts of the U.S. government and American POWs, who told devastating stories of the torture they endured at the hands of the North Vietnamese. YOU'VE REACHED YOUR MONTHLY ARTICLE LIMIT. "Flashpoint Vietnam," the real story about the road to the war. I did not know then. As anyone who knew or worked with me in those years knows my heart has always been with the soldiers. If it wasn't I must be missing something. Ramsey Clark went to Hanoi during the war. "STRATAGEMS of DEFEAT AND NO-WIN WARS Jane Fonda and the Vietnam War. Fonda hasapologized for the liars and hypocrites statement, which she said she made out of anger that the Nixon Administration was lying about the extent of the POW torture for propaganda purposes. But now, very quickly, treason is the only crime defined in our Constitution. It meant re-taking the same bloody ground over and over again. Why? The cover called her Ms. She was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun on a 1972 visit to Hanoi, during which she gained the nickname "Hanoi Jane". Fonda has refused to tell her side of the story to historians investigating her role, purportedly because she was saving her story for her own memoirs, which are expected to be published soon. The POWs who were there have denied that this ever occurred. Here is my best, honest recollection of what took place. Email us. Johnson then ordered 165,000 U.S. forces under General Westmoreland to support a handful of American "advisors" previously ordered there by former President John F. Kennedy, Democrat. officers, toward the Chinese border amid cries of protest from Wall Street which feared war with "our trading partner" Red China. Jane Fonda remains unforgiven. It may be an old story, but being that she never stood trial for her actions still make her case an open book. The POWs are beaten. You know, we can we can scare her, and boy did they try? She went to tour the countrys dike system, which was rumored to have been intentionally bombed by American forces something the U.S. government to this day forcefully denies. These horrendous claims went around the nation on the Internet, resulting in a great deal of anger and consternation among veterans. Bates (private citizen), What do all you old sober sides make of this thesis? By July 1972, when Fonda accepted an invitation to visit North Vietnam, America had been at war overseas and with itself for years. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. In fact, when the Tet Offensive broke, Jane Fonda was the featured pinup girl in that months issue of Leatherneck , the official publication of the Marines. Sadly, the Founders also mixed a great deal of Greco-Roman Humanism with this heritage, allowing room for much of what you decry. There is certainly no doubt that the country was basically split down the middle on the idea of our military presence in SE Asia, and as Americans we were all free to protest the war to our hearts' content. Truman warned Chiang to integrate communists into China's nationalist government or American aid would be withdrawn. William Burkhead, a Democrat from Anne Arundel, said, I wouldnt want to kill her, but I wouldnt mind if you cut her tongue off, according to a Post story. http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa110399b.htm. MacArthur was denied his request to attack enemy forces massing across the Yalu border in preparation for attack. And its about a woman who had a capacity for reinvention that, like Jay Gatsbys, was the more effective for her whole-souled belief in what she devised. I think you'll find that those are things on a more personal level than stupdities and worse committed by LBJ, Congress, and Nixon. It never happened. 's and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. I mean, you know, of all manner of slings and arrows were thrown my way. In 2005, she apologized again on 60 Thus, the U.S.A. deliberately betrayed its former ally Chiang Kai-Shek and gave mainland China to communism. Dave Kelly responded with a cannon by bringing up the time Fonda posed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. Her visit actually took place in 1972. Here it is. On campus, she was pushing her movement to turn U.S. soldiers into pacifists. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, L.L.C.
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