Jane Fonda Draws Protesters And Angry Veterans In Maryland
Jane Fonda, known for her unforgettable roles like Nine to Five, On Golden Pond, and more recently Monster-in-Law, faced some pretty harsh criticism Friday, but not for any of her roles. At a speaking engagement in Maryland, Jane Fonda drew protesters for comments she made decades ago.
Fonda was faced with protesters, many of whom were Vietnam War veterans, outside of the Weinberg Center for Arts in Frederick, Maryland, where the actress was speaking Friday. Some of the signs that the protesters were carrying read messages like, “Forgive? Maybe. Forget? Never,” according to Fox News.
So what exactly are these veteran protesters forgiving but never forgetting?
VETS TO HANOI JANE: STFU!!!! Jane Fonda met with protest in Frederick, MD http://t.co/XR4tg5ZTK4 pic.twitter.com/Wfo71g6I3z
— slone (@slone) January 18, 2015
Fonda stoked quite a bit of ire in 1972, when she made a trip to Hanoi in North Vietnam. While there, the actress “criticized attacks on the dike system along the Red River” by the United States, according to the Frederick News-Post.
The criticism led many veterans and their supporters to refer to her as a “traitor” and “Hanoi Jane.” Instead of supporting the troops, it appeared that she was supporting the supposed enemy at that time. Fonda faced protesters even back then.
Bob Hartman, an army veteran and one of the protesters outside the theater, holds “her responsible for thousands of American lives,” feeling that Fonda was responsible for breaking negotiation among the countries.
Hartman said, “She got Americans killed… and she went to Vietnam to advance her husband’s career.”
How does Fonda feel about her remarks now? Fonda has said that it “hurts” her, and that she “made a huge, huge mistake that made a lot of people think I was against the soldiers.” As the protesters signs said, though, they’ll have a hard time forgetting those 1972 comments.
Jane Fonda says she wasn’t against the Soldiers but called POWs who claimed they were tortured liars. @Janefonda
— Cardinal John (@MrJaf) January 19, 2015
Just Remember, the last time Hanoi @Janefonda ‘apologized’, two months later she repeated her old old rhetoric & said ‘get over it’.
— Mary Forbes (@MaryForbes14) January 19, 2015
Fonda has admitted that she would like to “sit down” with veterans and protesters to “talk” because she “understands and it makes me very sad.”
Fonda has also said that the protesters from back in 1972 had an impact on her, saying, “My voice went underground, and it took me a long, long time to get it back.”
While there were many veteran protesters there against Fonda, she had at least one supporter, Gabrielle Hash.
Hash was quoted as saying, “I feel like you can’t vilify Jane Fonda but not vilify our government.”
With all the comments online and on Twitter, it appears that no matter how long ago the comments were made, Jane Fonda will be drawing protesters for her controversial comments made decades ago.
[Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia]
