Six years later, 1,000 people took part in a rally in Waterbury, Conn., where Fonda was filming a movie. In 1982, protesters bearing “Hanoi Jane” placards gathered outside an exercise class she led in Tampa, Fla. But John Kerry has always spoken out that he thought that trip was the wrong thing to do.”įor years, Fonda endured a negative public image because of her days as a political activist in the 1970s. Even today, many remain angry about her trip to Vietnam. “ ‘Hanoi Jane’ is a lightning rod among many veterans. “It’s guilt by association,” Brinkley said. Still, he said, the photos are being used by conservatives to politically wound Kerry and suggest that he might be soft on communism. John Kerry was one of them.”ĭouglas Brinkley, author of “Tour of Duty,” a chronicle of Kerry’s Vietnam experiences, said Wednesday that several photos circulating on the Internet were taken before Fonda visited North Vietnam, and that the two were not even acquaintances. A lot of very considerable people opposed that war. “His war service earned him the right to speak out against what he thought was an immoral war. “John Kerry’s war record speaks for itself,” Hurley said. John Hurley, national director of veterans affairs for the Kerry campaign, said he had not seen the photo but downplayed its significance. How can you impugn, how can you even suggest, that anyone like Kerry or any of these veterans were not patriotic? He was a hero there.” “So anyone who slams that organization and slams Kerry for being part of it is doing an injustice to veterans. “This was an organization of men who risked their lives in Vietnam, who considered themselves totally patriotic,” she said, referring to Vietnam Veterans Against the War. I don’t even think we shook hands,” Fonda said of the 1970 photograph. We were at a rally for veterans at the same time. “Any attempt to link Kerry to me and make him look bad with that connection is completely false.
The actress, who has apologized for her actions, told CNN on Wednesday that the effort to discredit Kerry by an association with her was part of “the big lie.” The photo of Fonda and Kerry was taken two years before Fonda’s Hanoi trip. John McCain of Arizona, who was one of those American fliers shot down over that same city by those same anti-aircraft forces, tortured and spent nearly six years in a POW cell while Fonda returned home.Many Vietnam veterans remember her for only one searing image: Dressed in Viet Cong combat fatigues and mugging for cameras while thousands of U.S. This earned her the nickname Hanoi Jane (indeed, that’s the TMZ headline this afternoon) and an enduring image as a polarizing figure, especially regarding patriotism.Īs it happens, the Republican presidential candidate this time is Sen. The problem for those of a certain generation that endured the Vietnam War and the sometimes violent domestic conflict that accompanied it at home is that during Fonda’s controversial wartime visit to North Vietnam, she was photographed at a Communist anti-aircraft gun battery.Īccording to the photo caption distributed at the time, she joined North Vietnamese soldiers there in singing an antiwar song while preparing to shoot at attacking Americans. Hillary Clinton, with voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq. Obama, who was recently named the most liberal member of the Senate by the nonpartisan National Journal, has sought to portray himself as the earliest anti-Iraq war opponent and tagged his sole remaining opponent, Sen. This could be one of those less desirable votes for part of the country, especially if Obama was hoping to attract some crossover Republicans if he’s the Democratic candidate come fall. Less examined is whether some celebrity endorsements may actually cost a candidate votes. The imprimatur of Fonda, who’s been an antiwar activist for decades, certainly supports Obama’s antiwar credentials. Attract anything other than simply more publicity, not to mention votes.
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