Jane Fonda's supported the enemy in Vietnam got American POW's killed-Truth! and Fiction!

Jane Fonda Supported the Enemy in Vietnam and Her Conduct Got American POW's Killed-Truth! & Fiction!

Summary of Rumor:
In protest of Jane Fonda being considered as one of the top 100 women of the century, this email reminds Americans of her controversial visit to North Vietnam during the war. It quotes a POW named Jerry Driscoll who was taken from his prison cell, cleaned and dressed for a visit with Fonda, then ordered to give Fonda a positive account of his treatment. He spit at Fonda and was beaten and dragged away. Then a group of POWs which included a Col. Larry Carrigan were brought out to visit with Fonda. According to the story, "...she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?" & "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?" Many of the POW's were listed as missing in action so to identify themselves to American authorities, they each wrote their Social Security numbers on small pieces of paper and slipped them to Fonda as she greeted them. To their horror, however, after Fonda finished meeting them, she turned to the North Vietnamese commanding officer and handed him the POW's pieces of paper. In the beatings that followed, three American POW's died and Col. Carrigan nearly died. The email then ends with a statement about events in North Vietnam from an unnamed American POW.

The Truth:
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.  She praised the North Vietnamese, posed for a photo at a Communist anti-aircraft gun emplacement, made several radio broadcasts for the Communist North Vietnamese in which she called American military leaders "war criminals," then when some of the POWs returned home and described mistreatment by the North Vietnamese, she said Americans should "...not hail the POWs as heroes, because they are hypocrites and liars."

There is no dispute that her visit took place and that her words and actions were in support of the enemy. This particular email includes three stories, two of which have been denied by the POWs who are named, and one of which has been confirmed as true by the source, although he was not named in the email.

First, the "100 Women of the Century" was a project of the Ladies Home Journal and a TV special hosted by Barbara Walters. Jane Fonda was one of the 100. How the email story about the POWs got started is not known, but it has been widely circulated.

TruthOrFiction.com located Jerry Driscoll who said that the accounts about him in the email are "...the product of a very vivid imagination" and he requests that people please stop passing it on to others.

TruthOrFiction.com also contacted Mike McGrath, of Nam-POWs, who says the Larry Carrigan events never happened either.  He says Carrigan calls the story a "hoax" and does not want to be associated with it. McGrath also says that some versions of the email include an account from a Dave Hoffman and that his story is true.  Hoffman says he was tortured (hung by a broken arm) until he agreed to go before Jane Fonda.  He was among a small group who witnessed one of her radio broadcasts for Hanoi.  The part of the email that begins with "To Whom it may concern" is true. It's a quote from an article titled SHAME ON JANE originally published on the Advocacy And Intelligence Index website on April 28, 1999 and written by Michael Benge who was a civilian captured by the North Vietnamese in 1968.
|In his statement, he also makes reference to a missionary nurse who died in captivity.
For your interest, that was Betty Olsen, a Christian Missionary Alliance nurse from New York.

In 1988 in an interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20, Jane Fonda talked about her Vietnam visit and issued what some feel was an apology but which her critics say was not enough.
Fonda 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 the things that I said or did. 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."

In 2005, Fonda published her autobiography in which she described in detail her decision to go to North Vietnam. She said it was primarily motivated by her desire to document the U.S. bombing of important dikes that, if destroyed, could kill tens of thousands of people and devastate the lives of millions. The U.S. had denied the bombings. In the book, Fonda is unapologetic about the trip or her participation in broadcasts on radio Hanoi but regrets the pictures taken of her at the gun emplacement. She said it made it appear as though she was celebrating armaments aimed at American planes, which was not how she felt and was not the context in which the pictures were taken. She reminds readers that the U.S. investigated her trip and found no reason to bring any charges against her. She also describes her longstanding support of, and interaction with, U.S. military personnel and says her only beef was with the U.S. government, not the troops.

Last updated 4/02/05

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

Version # 1

Subject: Honored Women of the Century

A good friend of mine knows the author of the following and asked to have it
forwarded to my contacts that are different from his. I'm sure there are
dozens of accounts that are just as compelling about Hanoi Jane but this one
is pretty strong. Please consider forwarding this to others that you know well and are comfortable that they will not feel spammed. _______________________________________________
HANOI JANE
Looks like Hanoi Jane may be honored as one of the "100 Women of the Century".

JANE FONDA remembered?

Unfortunately many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our "country" but the men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam. There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Jane Fonda's participation in what I believe to be blatant treason, is one of them.

Part of my conviction comes from exposure to a pilot whose name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1978, the Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a former POW in Ho Lo Prison-the "Hanoi Hilton". Dragged from a stinking
cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in fresh PJs, he was ordered to
describe for a visiting American "Peace Activist" the "lenient and humane
treatment" he'd received. He spat at Ms.Fonda, was clubbed and dragged away.

During the subsequent beating, he fell forward upon the camp Commandant's
feet, accidentally pulling the man's shoe off-which sent that officer berserk. In '78, the AF Col.still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying days) from the Vietnamese Col.'s frenzied application of wooden baton.

From 1983-85, Col. Larry Carrigan was the 47FW/DO (F-4Es). He spent 6 years in the "Hilton" - the first three of which he was "missing in action". His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned/fed/clothed routine in preparation for a "peace delegation" visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his SSN on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms.Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?" & "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?" Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper.

She took them all without missing a beat. At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge ... and handed him the little pile. Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Col. Carrigan was almost number four.

To whom it may concern: I was a civilian economic development advisor in Viet Nam, was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Viet Nam in 1968, and held for over 5 years. I spent 27 months in solitary confinement, one year in a cage in Cambodia, and one year in a "black box" in Hanoi. My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time, I weighed approximately 90 lbs. (My normal weight is170 lbs.) We were Jane Fonda's "war criminals." When Jane Fonda visited Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with her. I said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we POWs were receiving, which was far different from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by various peace activists as "humane and lenient." After doing so, 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. After my release I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda for a couple of hours. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She declined to answer me. She does not exemplify someone who should be honored among "100 Years of Great Women."

Please take the time to read and forward to as many people as you can. It
will eventually end up on her computer and she needs to know that "we will never forget".!!!!

Carpe Diem

Version # 2

Subject: Jane Fonda

KEEP THIS MOVING ACROSS AMERICA
HONORING A TRAITOR

This is for all the kids born in the 70's that do not remember this, and didn't have to bear the burden, that our fathers, mothers, and older brothers and sisters had to bear. Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the "100 Women of the Century." Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam.

The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilot's name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho Lo Prison-the "Hanoi Hilton." Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJ's, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American "Peace Activist" the "lenient and humane treatment" he'd received. He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and dragged away.

During the subsequent beating, he fell forward upon the camp Commandant's feet, which sent that officer berserk. In '78, the AF Col. still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying days) from the Vietnamese Col.'s frenzied application of a wooden baton. From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4E's). He spent 6 years in the "Hilton"- the first three of which he was "missing in action". His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned, fed, clothed routine in preparation for a "peace delegation" visit.

They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his SSN on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?" and "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?" Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper.

She took them all without missing a beat.
At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him the little pile of papers. Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Col. Carrigan was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason we know about her actions that day.

I was a civilian economic development advisor in Vietnam, and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968, and held for over 5 years. I spent 27 months in solitary confinement, one year in a cage in Cambodia, and one year in a "black box" in Hanoi. My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border.

At one time, I was weighing approximately 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.) We were Jane Fonda's "war criminals."

When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with Jane Fonda. I said yes, for I would like to tell her about the real treatment we POWs received different from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by Jane Fonda, as "humane and lenient." Because of this,
I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees with outstretched arms with a large amount of steel placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane till my arms dipped.

I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda for a couple of hours after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She did not answer me.

This does not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of "100 Years of Great Women." Lest we forget..."100 years of great women" should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots. There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane's participation in blatant treason, is one of them.

Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can. It will eventually end up on her computer and she needs to know that we will never forget.

RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF
716 Maintenance Squadron, Chief of Maintenance