Hanoi Jane

Jane Fonda, the daughter of the famous American actor Henry Fonda, was already a popular actress by the beginning of the 1970s and even received an Academy Award for the film “Cleat” . In 1970, she became an anti-war activist. Fonda repeatedly gave anti-war speeches in churches and universities, sponsored the Vietnam Veterans Against War organization (which was led by John Kerry for some time) and the Winter Soldiers investigation, during which US troops spoke about the crimes of the US armed forces in Vietnam . At that time, she did not hide her leftist views, calling herself a revolutionary. In one of her speeches to students, she said: “If you understood what communism was , you would have hoped and prayed, kneeling down so that we would someday become communists.” In 1972, Jane Fonda visited North Vietnam .

The Funds' visit to North Vietnam in July 1972 came during a period of fierce American air raids. The main purpose of the visit was to attract the attention of the world community to the bombing of dams, which destroyed the irrigation system built over the centuries. For two weeks, she visited villages, schools, hospitals and factories affected by air raids. A press conference was organized for her with the participation of seven American prisoners of war, who assured her that the Vietnamese did not torture them, and made statements condemning US policy in Southeast Asia . In addition, Fonda visited the positions of Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns, where an ensemble of folk songs performed before her. Fonda communicated with anti-aircraft gunners, wearing a helmet they proposed, and also sat in the gunner’s gunner’s chair. The entire event was shot on film, individual frames of which were released in the form of photographs. At the same time, Jane Fonda, as reported, called American pilots "blue-eyed killers", and spoke about President Nixon as the "new Hitler ." She made several appearances on Hanoi radio calling on US troops not to participate in this war.

Returning to the United States (and bringing with her letters written by prisoners to their families ^[2] ), Fonda said that American pilots were not tortured in North Vietnam and were ashamed of what they were doing. In 1973, after the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement and the release of American prisoners of war, numerous stories about the cruelties and torture suffered by the prisoners in North Vietnam became public. ^[3] . In this regard, Jane Fonda called prisoners of war who told stories about torture, liars, hypocrites and war criminals.

The anti-war activities of the Funds did not go unnoticed by the Pentagon and the FBI . She was monitored, the results of which were reported personally to President Nixon and his national security adviser Kissinger . They unsuccessfully tried to put her in jail for drug possession, but it was impossible to hold her accountable for a trip to North Vietnam, because the Department of Justice concluded that she did not violate any US laws, since the United States and North Vietnam were not officially at war . However, the opinion of many American Vietnam war veterans about her is unambiguous - she is considered a traitor who paid a propaganda visit to the country with which America was (although not de jure , but de facto ) at war and made statements, not only undermining the military efforts of their homeland, to which it could have the right, but also, most importantly, personally insulting US military personnel who carried out the order of the Supreme Commander, and with photographs and filming with weapons from which the Vietnamese shot at an airplane you are the USA.

In the first half of the 1980s, Jane Fonda did not star in films. When she decided to return to the movies and it became known that her new film “Stanley and Iris” would be shot in Waterbury ( Connecticut ), demonstrations of local veterans began in the city, threatening to riot if the filming started. In June 1988, the Foundation was forced to meet with protesters. This was her first meeting with veterans, following which the actress said that she regrets some things from what she did; she said that in the past she was reckless and careless. Many veterans did not find this apology sufficient. In 2000 , 2005 , 2015, the Fund again made statements about its visit to North Vietnam, expressing regret that it allowed itself to be photographed in the position of North Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns with Vietnamese weapons ( Unfortunate photo ) and calling it a betrayal (“Young Vietnamese soldiers sang a song for me which touched me very much. I tried to sing in Vietnamese. Everyone laughed and clapped. Someone led me to the anti-aircraft gun and sat beside her. I realized my mistake later. My goodness, it can be understood as if I were on the side enemies of America! ^[4] ). ^[5] But, in fact, the rest of the alleged acts of betrayal by Jane Fonda were falsified, and many of her enemies, posing as veterans, may not be veterans of the Vietnam War. Those veterans she met in Vietnam are grateful to her. Many of the war veterans agree that the undeclared war in Vietnam against the current main US ally in Southeast Asia was a crime and deception of the American people that needed to be stopped. ^[6]

One of the classic forms of “psychological warfare” is radio broadcasts aimed at enemy troops. Experience has shown that, despite commanders' bans, soldiers tend to listen to enemy radio broadcasts, although not taking them seriously. American soldiers have traditionally nicknamed announcers in such programs, usually based on American names. In World War II, it was the “ Tokyo Rose, ” during the Korean War , the “Seoul Sue,” and during the Iraq War , Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahaf was called the “Baghdad Bob.” During the Vietnam War, several women, known collectively as Hanoi Hannah, conducted radio propaganda. The caustic nickname "Hanoi Jane" reflects the fact of Jane Fonda's appearances on Hanoi radio and underscores the fact of her collaboration with the enemy. The “Jane of Hanoi” or “Hanoi — Jane” versions are inaccurate translations.

Falsifications

Some facts about the meeting of Jane Fonda with captured American pilots are fabricated. Their unreliability is convincingly proved. These falsifications were spread by unknown on the Internet in the late 1990s, although it can be assumed that they were born before that.

• Pilot Jerry Driscoll was chosen by North Vietnamese overseers to tell the Foundation how well Vietnamese are about captive Americans. Instead, he spat at her. Driscoll was taken away and severely beaten, leaving him disabled (the story is completely refuted by Driscoll himself, who stated that he had never met with the Foundation).
• Colonel Larry Carrigan was part of a group that was supposed to meet with the Foundation. Before the meeting, he agreed with his comrades that each of them would write his social security code on a piece of paper and discreetly transmit a note to the Foundation, so that he would inform his families that they were alive. During the meeting, the Fund shook hands with each pilot, without any visible emotions, having received all the notes. Then she turned to the present Vietnamese officer and gave him all the notes. After the meeting, all seven pilots were severely beaten, and three died from beating (Colonel Carrigan repeatedly denied the story, claiming that he had never met with the Foundation).
• During a meeting with the Foundation’s pilots, she shook hands with each other and made remarks like “don’t you regret that you bombed children?” And “are you grateful for the humane treatment of you in captivity?” (Refuted by Edison Miller, one of the prisoners who participated in meeting)

Mike McGrath, president of the Vietnam War Prisoners of War Association, who himself was a prisoner, said about the stories of the death of prisoners under torture after talking with the Foundation:

The aforementioned fraud was spread over the Internet in e-mails in 1999 due to the fact that Jane Fonda was included in the list of the hundred most influential women of the XX century , presented by American journalist Barbara Walters on ABC. In addition to the fraud, the email mentioned a real story related to the captive civil economist Michael Benj. Benju was invited to attend a meeting with the Foundation. He agreed, saying that he wanted to tell her about the real attitude of the jailers towards the prisoners. They did not let him into the Fund. In punishment for his courage, Benju had to stand on his knees on the stone floor for three days, holding a heavy metal bar in outstretched hands; when his hands fell, he was beaten with a bamboo stick.

Exaggerations

The trip of Jane Fonda to North Vietnam caused a sharp rejection in the American army, which continues to this day. Despite the fact that the Fund apologized in part for its actions in North Vietnam, many American veterans consider it to be almost a personal enemy. In April 2005, 54-year-old Michael Smith, who served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, spat in the face of the Fund with tobacco juice at the presentation of her book. After being detained by the police, Smith said: “I usually do not chew tobacco, but for the sake of such an incident I bought a package ... I consider my spit a duty of honor. I do not at all repent of my deeds ... Most veterans would be glad to repeat my act ” ^[8] . The foundation has become the personification of the image of the entire anti-war movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, as a result of which the significance of her Hanoi trip is often exaggerated. It is alleged that her performances on Hanoi’s radio had a very negative effect on the morale of American soldiers. Some believe that she provided moral support to the enemy and was indirectly responsible for the death of American soldiers. So, the aforementioned Michael Smith said: “She is responsible for the names of my friends and comrades stamped on the wall” ^[9] . Former infantry officer Nelson Demill, on the basis of his own experience, testified that the performance of the Foundations reflected in the fighting spirit of the soldiers and led to an increase in losses among them. However, Demille served in Vietnam in 1968 , long before the Foundations visited North Vietnam. Apparently, the image of "Hanoi Jane" became so stereotyped that it entered the folklore of the Vietnam War and is able to influence the memories of veterans. In fact, the Fund could not significantly affect the morale of American soldiers in Vietnam, because by the time of its speech, the United States practically did not conduct a ground war there. The last major ground operation (Operation Jefferson Glenn) was completed in 1971 . By July 1972, less than 50 thousand US troops remained in South Vietnam (compared with 550 thousand at the peak of hostilities), and in August the last ground combat unit was withdrawn from there. In January 1973, the Paris Agreement was signed, completing the American phase of the war. It is also interesting that dozens of American anti-war activists visited North Vietnam during the war, including cult folk singer Joan Baez and former US Secretary of Justice Ramsey Clark , but not a single visit made as much noise as happened in the case of Jane Fonda.

• The Vietnamese gave Jane Fonda a necklace made, as they claimed, from pieces of an American B-52 bomber shot down over North Vietnam.
• His son, born in 1973, Jane Fonda and her then husband Tom Hayden were named Troy (an Americanized version of the Vietnamese name Choi) in honor of Vietnam's national hero Nguyen Van Choi , who was executed for attempting to assassinate US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamaru .

• Death coordinates
• The torture of American prisoners of war in North Vietnam

• Jerry Lembcke. Hanoi Jane: War, Sex, & Fantasies of Betrayal . - Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2010 .-- ISBN 9781558498150 .

• "Hanoi Jane" reveals the soul
• Peter Brush Hating Jane: The American Military and Jane Fonda
• Hanoi'd with Jane
• Hanoi Jane: Yesterday's Fiery Communist Revolutionary
• Text of a recording by Jane Fonda on Hanoi radio on August 22, 1972