I think that there is a lot of selectivity going on. Enjoy the rest of the conversation. It never happened. Screw you. 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. It was the last day of my two week time there. Once U.S. forces were committed in large numbers the U.S. federal government, as in Korea, prohibited them from attacking specified enemy sanctuaries (staging areas) into which the communists retreated, regrouped, re-armed and launched renewed attacks. I spent many years its when I made coming home talking to American soldiers, who had been in Vietnam and the things they told me were heartbreaking. For 70 years, American Heritage has been the leading magazine of U.S. history, politics, and culture. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Of course, she was a Vietnamese. quote: If even one of them were true, it would change the entire focus of my article. 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. But Jane Fonda: Cancel my subscription!, In replying, I discovered that the Good Book notwithstanding, a soft answer turneth away wrath no more than zo percent of the time. The financial elite then move into the vacuum, establish central banks, and issue debt-credit to the devastated populations. She claimed she was sexually harassed by correspondent Brian Wilson and later spoke out against Fox News' culture after the Ailes scandal broke. 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. Due to actions and images some people consider unpatriotic or treasonous, she earned Her suit was later settled for a reported $20 million. "Flashpoint Vietnam," the real story about the road to the war. . Only the bankers know. 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. As anyone who knew or worked with me in those years knows my heart has always been with the soldiers. I should have been clearer that my anger back then was at the Nixon Administration. Donald And you were photographed sitting on an anti aircraft gun. I mean, he realized that. There was a real Colonel Carrigan, and he was a POW in Vietnam. CHRIS WALLACE: Who the people in the Nixon administration? 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? I suppose that since I am never really planned to be an Intern next semester (not in a full time sense, save as a researcher), and since my term is essentially over, I can join the conversation as Joe Public. However, you may note that the Left still presumes to lecture the rest of us often concerning foreign policy on a regular basis. Jane Fonda sparked outrage among war veterans when she was pictured sitting on an anti-aircraft gun in 1972 during the Vietnam War, earning her the nickname Hanoi Jane. Putnams Sons. Legal Statement. It all has nothing to do with where I am sitting. And I don't NORTH: Well, that's not going to happen. Was Jane Fonda's sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun that was used to shoot at and kill Americans, and launching an anti-American PR campaign with the North Vietnamese giving aid and comfort? North Vietnam, 1972,: Jane Fonda is in the midst of her visit when an N.V.A. If I was used, I allowed it to happen. JANE FONDA: Well, I didnt like it. Even she had to apologize years later for that gun picture, but not for the rest of it. If you must know, my original draft did make reference to the one true story that you mentioned. She said It is possible it was a setup, I will never know. CHRIS WALLACE: Your most famous protest was 50 years ago when you went to North Vietnam at the height of the war there. Article 3, section three of the Constitution defines treason as "levying war against the United States or adhering to their enemies or giving them aid and comfort.". 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 replying, I discovered that the Good Book notwithstanding, a soft answer turneth away wrath no more than zo percent of the time. Heres Kellys take on what she called Fondas poor me routine. The buck stops here. If I was Vietnamese, I probably would have tried to do the same thing, you know, but I should not have gone. I hardly even think about where I am sitting. CHRIS WALLACE: When you got that nickname Hanoi Jane, how did you feel at the time? Meanwhile the mass media suddenly reversed its pro-war policy: denying our beleaguered troops moral support from home. Shewas arrested before she got the chance, just as she had been at Fort Lewis, Wash., Fort Hood, Tex., and Fort Bragg, N.C. Fonda told The Post shed made talking to GIs herfull-time job. Coffee houses. Four die; one, Col. Larry Carrigan, survivesjust barely, but it is he who tells about the incident. Never. and booed people attending the event, according to the Frederick News-Post. Kiran Chetry was a Fox News host from 2001 to 2007. If I was Vietnamese, I probably would have tried to do the same thing, you know, but I should not have gone. The chance to remake oneself is a universally acknowledged strength of this Republic, and the Republic itself has done it often enough. 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. I said that the POWs claiming torture were liars, hypocrites, and pawns. February 25, 2023 / Jack Marshall. It hurts me, she said, and it will to my grave that I made a huge, huge mistake that made a lot of people think I was against the soldiers., The Dragon Lady: How Madame Nhu helped escalate the Vietnam War. This "police action" quickly developed into a full-blown but undeclared war. He collects a group of American POWs from their septic dungeons, cleans them up, and has them mustered on parade to show his guest how well his embattled nation treats its prisoners. He hadnt liked the story but at least was willing to discuss it. Chiang refused to be extorted, citing his revulsion of the international banking cartel. During her two-week stay, Fonda concluded that America was unjustly bombing farmland and areas far flung from military targets. Did our government lie to us during Vietnam? The cameras flash. And by the way, did our government lie to us during Vietnam? I think so, and I would hope that all Americans will at least speak their minds at the movie box office and refuse to further enrich one of the greatest American traitors. 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. Troop D, 1st squadron, 4th Cavalry, RVN, 1966-7 We have no right to attack that country. A Vietnam War photographer captured the bloody Tet offensive. 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 No one with half a brain took Jane Fonda seriously then, or for that matter, now. I don't want people putting words into my mouth, saying "you're going to tell us all these bankers and financiers are Jewish", for instance. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. And the more they tried, the more I. JANE FONDA: I know what Im doing. It was my mistake, and I have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for it. But literally working hand-in-hand with the enemy to promote their cause to a worldwide audience was not protected by the First Amendment then just as it is not protected now. . The great General Douglas MacArthur drove the North Koreans, led by Red Chinese In 2005, she apologized again on 60 re: Jane Fonda visiting BR this weekend Posted on 3/3/23 at 9:43 am to Chipand2Putts. Trusted Writing on History, Travel, and American Culture Since 1949. "Happening Now" anchor Jenna Lee announced that she was leaving the Fox Newsafter working there for 10 years. And that we probably couldnt win it not because they werent a fabulous soldiers. CHRIS WALLACE: When you got that nickname Hanoi Jane, how did you feel at the time? At that time, over 60,000 American soldiers had lost their lives, and almost one million Vietnamese. Why? I sang a song. Daughter of legendary Henry Fonda, actress, and activist was one of the most outspoken people against the Vietnam War at the age of 34. In no sense am I a Fonda apologist. Even so, I'm going to keep an eye open to purchase one of the urinal mats with her photograph depicted upon it. 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. Dr. Rockefeller certainly did not defend Communism as a "Jewish" system, since it is the Hebrew Bible that was the basis of our Common Law, and hence much of our Constitutional Order. I never asked pilots to desert. During her two-week stay, Fonda concluded that America I am going to let the extract stand as it is, containing just enough truth to be uncomfortable, I think. No article of ours gets hundreds of letters, but this one did, very few of them friendly. I think you'll find that those are things on a more personal level than stupdities and worse committed by LBJ, Congress, and Nixon. And, you know, I think they thought, Oh, shes this white privilege rich, famous daughter of all of that stuff. I got the main point across. And, as she does, each POW palms her a scrap of paper with his Social Security number written on it. The people who are speaking out against the war are the patriots. She said the radio addresses were the only way to get access to American soldiers, because she was barred from meeting them at their bases in South Vietnam. JANE FONDA: Well, I didnt like it. Communism is an atheistic system, and even advocating it is a serious offense in my eyes (with or without war crimes participation). If I was used, I allowed it to happen. She said: I have very few regrets. Greta Van Susteren -- who had been one of Ailes' most stalwart defenders -- left in early September 2016 after saying that Fox had "not felt like a home" for years. Jane Fonda tested the limits of patriotic dissent. Nobody remembers, nobody cares. Jane didnt make her infamous and idiotic trip to Hanoi until 1972. On campus, she was pushing her movement to turn U.S. soldiers into pacifists. Fonda may have regrets about those photos in particular, but shes never regretted her political activism. All were hired by Roger Ailes, the former network boss who exited in August 2016 amid a sexual harassment scandal. It was the last day of my two week time there. Heres how we saw the article we ran: It is a survey of the singular career of a woman who both drove and was driven by many of the largest social concerns of her era, and who came to embody some of them. I mean, he realized that . The one story that was true never touched the question of whether or not she directly participated in war crimes. GRUMMETT: Don't worry about it, you know? She called our president, according to this report, "a new type of Hitler," pilots "war criminals.". 1990) Pages 121-123. I appealed to them to please consider what you are doing. I dont know what else to do. 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. Peter Braunsteins article speculated that Jane Fonda had this ability to a degree unique in modern times. Have a tip or story idea? and how good she feels in her 70s. President Lyndon Johnson, Democrat, in a special address to the American public, reported an attack upon a U.S. naval vessel in the Tonkin Gulf by a North Vietnamese torpedo boat. Which is precisely why U.S. liberals so vehemently protested U.S. involvement - and that is the only reason - we were destroying their comrades the communists. You know, I have an organization in Georgia that deals with adolescents, and Ive studied parenting. I dont think they know, Fonda said in a news conference when she returned home. And that we probably couldnt win it not because they werent a fabulous soldiers. Switch to the light mode that's kinder on your eyes at day time. NORTH: Well, all I did was present the facts. Mr. Nolan wrote something that helped me better understand the fury of this sort of reaction. I find that intolerable.. She now hosts "New Day" on CNN. And you know, maybe I was set up but I was an adult, its Im gonna take responsibility for it. This weekend's special I mean, this is very moving. And I didnt even think and they sang me a song and Im made me laugh. Politicians make mistakes that affect the body politic and statesmen sometimes direct a foreign policy that disregards individuals in the national interest. 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. I mean, the reality of it is that's not an apology. I make it a habit not to intervene as an intern. Hundreds of Americans had gone to North Vietnam, journalists diplomats, our Secretary of State Ramsey Clark, Vietnam veterans, but I said but a movie star hasnt gone and maybe if I go it will draw more attention, and thats what it did. And you know, maybe I was set up but I was an adult, its Im gonna take responsibility for it. We're going to take them out. . 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. SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Jane Fonda says she is sorry for some of her actions during the Vietnam War. CHRIS WALLACE: Your most famous protest was 50 years ago when you went to North Vietnam at the height of the war there. Hundreds of Americans had gone to North Vietnam, journalists diplomats, our Secretary of State Ramsey Clark, Vietnam veterans, but I said but a movie star hasnt gone and maybe if I go it will draw more attention, and thats what it did. Now, I can't judge her heart but it's a different manifestation of Christianity than John Paul II (search). Congress held hearings. Jane Fonda was more than just an actress born to a wealthy and prominent Hollywood family. Watch above via HBO Max and CNNs Whos Talking to Chris Wallace. This article was published more than4 years ago. Libertarian commentator Jedediah Bila appeared on Fox's "Outnumbered" and later turned up on ABC's "The View.". The charges against Fonda went beyond the notion that she was an apologist for the mistreatment of American prisoners of war. 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. Radio broadcasts, which attempted to shame American troops: Fonda did record messages that the North Vietnamese played for Americans to weaken their resolve. I did not know then. 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. 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. Thank you, sir. Imagine its the Battle of the Bulge and Betty Grable is up on top of a German tank saying the Yanks are fighting an evil war. Its not a preposterous analogynot as far as the soldiers involved are concerned. She called our POWs hypocrites and liars and referred to their torture as understandable. 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. After countless apologies spanning four decades, Breitbarts John Nolte believes Hanoi Jane Fonda should finally be forgiven for her antics in Vietnam.. Fonda has said categorically that she was an adult at the time and called her All rights reserved. Youre gonna come through it, okay. It is nothing more and nothing less than the full culmination of Greco-Roman Humanism as it has defined itself throughout the thousands of years. "Claim: POWs were beaten for refusing to cooperate or meet with Fonda during her visit. Copyright 1949-2022 American Heritage Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. It wasnt firing at the time, and Fonda said in 2011 she hardly even thought about where I was sitting and that itis possible that it was a set up, that the Vietnamese had it all planned.. Please, you cant let them be published. Her attackers renewed an old strike against the image of an actress who grew up as the daughter of the All-American Henry Fonda, yet became synonymous with the various rebellions of the Sixties. In 1972, Fonda toured North Vietnam, where she spoke against U.S. military policy in the country. However, the fact that she advocated Communism does not give anyone license to make up stories or slander. . 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. The answer, of course, is that they won't. Jane Fonda came clean in an interview with Chris Wallace about her Hanoi Jane days and her failure as a mother. Even so, the main focus of my essay was whether Jane Fonda participated in war crimes, not whether she was morally culpable for her part as an apologist for the mistreatment of POW's (she was). Christopher Andersen, Citizen Jane (New York: Henry Holt and Company. But she maintains she was not a traitor by speaking out against the war or trying to turn soldiers against it, because she still believesthe U.S. government was lying to them. In another she was looking into the window._taboola = window._taboola || []; Yet, despite treason in high places American troops - outnumbered ten-to-one - were winning the war. The alleged mission was to prevent communism from spreading to South Korea, a peninsula pointed at now disarmed Japan. 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. Though Fonda has been an activist throughout her life, the only other time she has spent the night in jail was in 1970, when she was 32, on a speaking tour protesting the Vietnam War. But newly discovered tapes tell a very, very different story. It's not just handing out, you know, blankets. but not for the rest of it. False. This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," April 6, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. It never happened. During the visit she posed for several pictures. Troop B, 2nd squadron, 17th Cavalry, RVN, 1969-70 "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." Almost all the messages said we had no business writing about Fonda because she was a traitor. We once published an admiring profile of Benedict Arnoldwhose actions did the nation real damage in a way Fondas fulminations never couldand nobody made a peep. There was a real Colonel Carrigan, and he was a POW in Vietnam. 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. After all, she is an American; surely shell carry the message home to the families that their husband or son is alive. 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. You have "War Stories" coming up. Its going to look like I was trying to shoot down U.S. planes! JANE FONDA: It was a terrible mistake. It has simply been repeated over and over again, without proof, and duplicated on a number of websites. In July of 1972, she made two trips to Hanoi which earned her the nickname Hanoi Jane. Sending Out Veterans' Benefits, The Executive Branchs Response to the Flood of 1927, The Case For Calling the Language "American", America Fought Its Own Battle Over Books Before it Fought the Nazis. In 2015, about 50 veterans stood outside theWeinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Md., to protest Fondas appearance there. Some lawmakers calledher actions treason. 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. Jane Fonda is a star of stage and screen whose career began in 1960. HANNITY: Is Jane Fonda really sorry or just trying to sell her brand new book? Many Americans disapproved of Fondas comments They have never acknowledged their role in the killing fields of Cambodia and fail to discuss the fact that Vietnam, one of about four communist countries left on the face of this earth, is currently at the bottom rung of third world nations in terms of per capita income. Joe? YOU'VE REACHED YOUR MONTHLY ARTICLE LIMIT. Deprived of American assistance, his army bereft of supplies, Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to the island sanctuary of Formosa and dug in. The chance to remake oneself is a universally acknowledged strength of this Republic, and the Republic itself has done it often enough. Watch "Hannity & Colmes" weeknights at 9 p.m. Here is my best, honest recollection of what took place. Hardly misdirected anger, Jane Fonda really was merely a silly and shallow child of privilege who allowed herself to be used for propaganda. She was a symbol of a divided nation. We now see a pattern of sedition/treason. I mean, the reality is, there were 24,000 American troops on the ground in South Vietnam. container: 'taboola-right-rail-thumbnails', For a great many people, its not enough that Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam, offered encouragement to an army that was daily killing her countrymen, climbed up on that anti-aircraft gun, insisted that all American prisoners were well treated, and so on. True. So setting aside the issue of whether plastic surgery has anything to do with Vietnam, is Kelly right about Fondas record? From Urban Legends: I mean, you know, of all manner of slings and arrows were thrown my way. Del. Yeah, said my stepdaughter, Jill, when I told her about this. I mean, that's like the bank robber saying, "I'm sorry I got caught.". NORTH: Irrefutable for the three things she did, and I defined for you the rule, the actual constitutional language defining treason. One of the definitions of treason is giving aid and comfort to the enemy. "KOREA: Shortly thereafter Truman, with Congress averting its eyes, committed U.S. troops to Korea. Lets break down her remarks. His replacement, General Ridgway, said after the war: "The reason we didn't win is because I was under orders not to win". And heres Cat Ballou, the beautiful daughter of Young Abe Lincoln, of Mister Roberts, beaming down from a machine designed to kill them. She sided with the Viet Cong as revolutionary liberators. And she travelled to Hanoi at a time when North Vietnamese soldiers were killing Americans. She also spoke about her infamous protests. The war was being fought by the air during during the Nixon administration. It evidently didnt. She is the daughter of legendary actor and WWII Naval Officer Henry Fonda. You know, we can we can scare her, and boy did they try? Fonda traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to protest the Vietnam War, but she did not do most of the things the post claims. In it, she apologizes once again for insulting the men and women who fought in Vietnam. Fonda told the audience that their protests saddened her. 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. Kelly attacked Fondas Vietnam War history to defend questions about plastic surgery. Mao Tse-Tung, of "Little Red Book" fame, and darling of the New York-Hollywood "elite", then proceeded to murder 65 million of his countrymen in what David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski call "a glorious revolution."