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After all this time, Jane Fonda still cannot completely get rid of her “Hanoi Jane” image. Recently she started a blog and said that she’d address some of the rumors, which have gotten out of control thanks to the internet. There are a lot of servicemen and women who fought in Vietnam that are still profoundly upset with her – and a small group recently took to protesting outside of the Manhattan theater where Fonda is performing in the play “33 Variations.”
It’s been decades, but Jane Fonda still can’t shake her “Hanoi Jane” image from the Vietnam War.
About a dozen Vietnam veterans and other protesters on Saturday picketed the theater where the 71-year-old actress is starring in the Broadway play “33 Variations,” telling passers-by that she had once visited their communist enemy in Hanoi.
“Jane Fonda is a traitor,” said Dan Maloney of the Gathering of Eagles, which bills itself as a national, nonpartisan veterans group. “She got on Hanoi radio and called every U.S. serviceman a war criminal.”
Fonda was tagged with the sobriquet “Hanoi Jane” after visiting the North Vietnamese capital in 1972, where she made radio broadcasts critical of U.S. policy and sat on an anti-aircraft gun laughing and clapping, as she describes in her autobiography, “My Life So Far.”
Though she still defends her anti-war activism, Fonda has acknowledged that the incident was “a betrayal” of American forces.
“That two-minute lapse of sanity will haunt me until the day I die,” she wrote.
Fonda currently plays a musicologist in the Moises Kaufman play about reconciliation, set against the woman’s obsession with Beethoven’s 33 variations on a waltz. It marks her return to Broadway after 46 years.
[From the San Francisco Gate via Gossip Rocks]
Jane hasn’t mentioned anything about the protestors in her blog. Emotions obviously run very high on this issue, but I will point out that Fonda did apologize for her actions in her autobiography. I’m not sure what these protestors want from her. The goal of standing outside with signs is to… what? She can’t go back in time. She’s acknowledged the error of her ways. What else should Fonda do at this point? I’m not trying to defend or castigate her; I’m just confused about what the protestors’ purpose is.
In related news, Jane is getting fabulous reviews for her role in “33 Variations” – as is the play in general. Perhaps the protestors are trying to drive down ticket sales – though it doesn’t seem to be working.
Here’s Jane Fonda at the photocall for ’33 Variations’ held at the New York Theatre Workshop on January 29th. Images thanks to WENN.
Written by JayBird
Posted in Jane Fonda
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27 Responses to “Vietnam Vets protest outside Jane Fonda’s Broadway show”
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They need to get over that. It’s been like 40 years. Hasn’t she apologized? What else do they want?
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She was a young activist at the time, that’s what activists do: copious amounts of foot-in-mouth when carried away (I sympathize and feel her pain on that…) and; she did and said stupid things during wartime.
The vets need to re-direct their anger at the government that put them there in the first place, IMHO. The Vietnamese military didn’t come up with Agent Orange or napalm either. Or LSD trials or the Tuskegee experiment for that matter but I digress.
I understand where they’re coming from though, the veterans. You take some conscript farm-boy and drop him in the middle of a jungle hell and he’s treated as persona non grata when he gets home, I’d be upset too. And of course, it’s always easier to attack one individual than it is an entirely flawed system.
That particular government is gone and Jane Fonda is still around, so I fully understand why she’d be a focal point on this for many.
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they have a right to protest. she held a press conference with the vc to “prove” american pows were not being mistreated. my father was in vietnam..he lost a lot of friends and many went missing in pow camps. if this were your friend…or your family, you would never forget.
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I’m really over the whole adding “Hanoi” to the beginning of a person who does something in conjunction with Vietnam (or in Miley’s case, Asia in general, which makes it that much more offensive.)
And I’m really over people saying the name of that city incorrectly when they make a reference to “Hanoi Jane” or “Hanoi Miley”.
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And I agree, the issue isn’t Jane.
It’s the entire U.S. Government. But then again, what else is new?
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Disagreeing with, and protesting against the actions of one’s government is a right of all United States citizens. But, there is a HUGE difference between marching on DC with flowers in your hair singing “Give Peace a Chance” and actually appearing with an enemy nation’s military, laughing and carrying on, calling your own nation “butchers”.
Jane Fonda is a traitor to her country and should have been tried as such 40 years ago. Apply what she did then to what has happened now. US citizens who have left this country and allied themselves with the Taliban or AlQueda have been seen as traitors, conspirators, and have been held for treason upon capture.
I was born after the “conflict”, but I am a son of a veteran, and I know that Fonda deserves the hatred that has been literally spat upon her. What has been said is correct, she is the identifiable face of an entire ordeal that happened to these soldiers when they came back, but that does not make her less guilty of her actions.
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Jane Fonda will hear from Vietnam vets until she either outlives all of them of they outlive her. It’s their lives she tromped all over, so they have every right to never, ever let her forget about them.
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I think the protesters are reminding her and anyone else that siding with the enemy in times of wars is a stain for life. Its one thing to protest the war, to comment on it and disagree on policy, but to propagandize on the enemies behalf the way she did will not be swiped under the carpet and forgotten. Also, the fact that she whole heatedly sided with the commies and subsequently continued living a very opulent life under capitalism, probably grates the nerves of many vets.
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I wonder how many US airmen were killed by that anti-aircraft gun she sat on clapping and laughing.
The Vets should NEVER let it go.
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Veterans and their families NEVER forget a traitor. EVER. Eat THAT, Jane.
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Let it go. Harboring this anger for so long only hurts the person who is angry. This really doesn’t affect Jane anymore and it’s not going to stop anyone from seeing the play. It was a terrible mistake but it was long ago. Put the anger you have here and move it in a positive direction towards the current vets coming home.
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Ron: you just don’t get it.
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She has downplayed her actions in the Vietnam war for the last forty years. Her apology sounds like Chris Brown’s – “Mistakes were made, but I’ve forgiven myself.” (Really? Two minutes of insanity?) If she wants people to “get over it,” she should grovel – “I’m terribly sorry, it was a horrible course of action, I hurt a lot of people because I was arrogant and immature.” And perhaps add, “I’ve donated some of my zillions of dollars to this military charity to try to make amends.” American soldiers seem to be better people, braver, with more substance, and doing more good in the world, than any actor, and it would do Jane Fonda’s image a world of good to acknowledge that.
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She really just could apologize/recant. It would end it all.
She gave a partial apology years ago, but it was a terribly half-@$$ non-apology.
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Jane did a lot more than pose laughing and clapping on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft plane, and it lasted a lot longer than two minutes. This might be a clue as to why Vietnam Vets and their families continue to demonstrate against her.
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I’ve known 4 people killed in Iraq, and several more who were wounded, so what bothers me is that these vets are dwelling on the antics of a ditzy actress whose opinion wasn’t even taken seriously 40 years ago, when their efforts are desperately needed on behalf of the severely traumatized men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan NOW. PTSD is seriously underdiagnosed, suicide rates are appallingly high, and vets of all ages and from all eras can’t afford proper medical treatment. Protest THAT!
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She did everything that she could at that time to humiliate the brave servicemen (most of whom were drafted) serving in Vietnam. She also helped to promote the sour and terrible reception these brave men received upon their return home, some being spat upon and called “baby-killers”. Forgive the bitch, NEVER!!
USN – Retired!
George
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Vietnam vets will forgive Jane Fonda when the Jews forgive Hitler.
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Jane is a traitor. The time to beg forgiveness was long, long ago.
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I think She should never be forgiven. I hate war as much as any other person, but there is a difference between protesting the government that created the war, and pure hatred toward the people that were sent to fight for no reason. We should not support the war, but we should care about the people that are over there fighting. She had no right to go over there in the first place. Once a stupid BITCH, always a stupid BITCH !!!
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Jack Marino
FORGOTTEN HEROES the movie
A must see movie about our Vietnam Veterans. See the trailer on factfindersofamerica.com blog site
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I’m going to try to be succinct here. We invaded another country without even having the decency to declare war. We dropped agent orange, napalm, phosphorous, and cluster bombs on a people who didn’t even know we existed. We invaded a soverign country and murdered its people. We’re talking crimes against humanity here…in huge force. But it is in keeping with what you might expect from a country that has a prior history of exterminating native populations and enslaving others. But let me just cut to the chase – it’s not about the United States. It’s not about being “patriotic” to any particular government. It’s about seeing and feeling again what it is like to be a true human being. I am a United States citizen, yes, but I recognize I am a citizen of this world and I don’t cater to brutality and genocide from any nation, including my own. And I don’t need no government or religion to tell me how to think. I can see quite well, thank-you. The Gulf of Tonkin was a fabricated lie – amounts to high treason. Unfortunately, our real enemies were domestic, not foreign. Our soldiers were betrayed by their own country. Bravery is not facing down a twelve year old girl. Bravery is that twelve year old girl facing down you. We lost. And we lost more than a war. We lost ourselves…there were too many lies that just wouldn’t fit in steel metal pegs. The problem is deeper than one woman….but then again, a woman is easier to handle.
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Jane Fonda is a worthless pile of rodent feces. Her views and actions are from a women who is extremly sick in the head. She is in the comunist museum. jane fonda is nothing more than a ugly example of a human being. she should move to north korea. why north korea? because our great nation is about to light that country up. please jane go there before the fire works start u shameless,ugly,smelly loser of a sub human women.AHHHHHH that felt good!!~!!
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This is to kathy.
whos side are u on DUH> Do you realy think u know all about that war? did you get your info from tv, newspapers,or books. you know nothing about that war miss. maybe your the daughter of a teacher or better yet your from calf. where all the extreme bubble heads are walking around with all the answers. NEWS FLASH YOU HAVE NO CLUE AS TO WHY WE ARE OR WERE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. TO TOP IT OFF HAVE U SEEN VIET. LATLEY THEY ARE DOING GREAT AND THERE PEOPLE ARE LIVING TEN TIMES BETTER THAN THEY WERE LIVING BEFORE. IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT U kATHY. IN FACT, YOU IDIOTS MADE US STOP THE WAR BEFORE IT WAS OVER BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN U STUPID HIPPIES KNEW IT ALL. NOW U HAVE INFILTRATED OUR GREAT NATION AND ARE ABOUT TO DESTROY IT FROM WITHIN. iHATE LIBS MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD YOUR A LIB AND YOUR A LOSER.
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Some interesting information on here. Slightly off topic but I am so excited !. I saw Cats The Musical for the first time and the music and the dancing is amazing. It is an emotional journey that all the audience gets involved with !. ‘Cats’ will make you laugh and smile and touch certain areas inside your heart. Everyone left the theater singing, happy and uplifted. If you get a chance to go and see ‘Cats’ I really recommend it.
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Regarding the behavior of Jane Fonda during the war in Vietman, what most veterans want is for her to be tried and convicted of being a traitor, giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and being sentenced to jail. I don’t think many would care if the jail sentence was suspended, but they want justice. That’s what they want. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Her celebrity status saved her butt, and her contrite apology means nothing.
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She will not ever be forgiven for her betrayal of the servicemen who were over there protecting her rights to free speech by dying.
I hate here and always will. I’ve tried to write on her “blog” about some of her other dishonest comments, but they are never printed.
Repentant? Not a chance in hell is she repentant. Hypocritic bitch.
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