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“Hanoi Jane“
During the anti-war movements tons of people rallied together to protest the war in Vietnam.
One person who particularly stuck out against the crowd was a popular actress, even from today, Jane
Fonda. Jane Fonda was about 35 years old at the time of the anti-war movement and was very involved
in voicing her opinion against the war. In July 1972 Jane traveled to North Vietnam and toured the area
for 2 weeks. While on this trip the public gives Jane Fonda the nickname of Hanoi Jane. The public
choose “Hanoi Jane” because she is staying in the capital city of North Vietnam, Hanoi, supporting the
ideas of communism. During July, 1972 she made six broadcasts over Radio Hanoi. From the one on July
14, 1972 she said:

"This is Jane Fonda speaking from Hanoi, and I'm speaking particularly to the
U.S servicemen...I don't know what your officers tell you...but [your] weapons are illegal
and that's not just rhetoric...The men who are ordering you to use these weapons are
war criminals according to international law, and in the past, in Germany and
Japan, men who committed these kinds of crimes were tried and executed."

In several of these broadcasts Fonda attacks the government and their actions in
fighting the war. She even goes as far as to call Nixon the “New-age Hitler”. Fonda
apologizes 16 years after the wars ends for her actions on a 20/20 segment with
Barbara Walters; she said:

“"I would like to say something, not just to Vietnam veterans in New England,
but to men who were in Vietnam, who I hurt, or whose pain I caused to deepen because of things that I
said or did," she began. "I was trying to help end the killing and the war, but there were times when I
was thoughtless and careless about it and I'm . . . very sorry that I hurt them. And I want to apologize to
them and their families."

1) Why was Jane Fonda nicknamed Hanoi Jane?

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2) Why do you think Jane Fonda had so many followers?

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3) How would you feel if you were a soldier fighting in the war and you heard her speech over the
radio? How do you think the soldiers felt?

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