Emails and postal letter to Ladies' Home Journal RE: Jane "HANOI" Fonda
I wasn't at all surprised that I received the below emails written to Ladies' Home Journal RE: Jane "HANOI" Fonda. The "intensity" of ALL of these emails, however, really made me wonder exactly what possessed this magazine to choose Jane "HANOI" Fonda for this "distinction" when so many American men and women think what she did in Vietnam was not only wrong but TREASON. WHY Ladies' Home Journal?
If you came to this page without first reading the letters by Vietnam POWs CLICK HERE to read their moving letters.
For the record, Ladies' Home Journal magazine responded to the letters and emails on August 27th. Their response can be seen at the bottom of this page.
If you would like to send Ladies' Home Journal an email CLICK HERE.
From: "Shannon Bond"
To: lhj@mdp.com
Cc: stan@stealth.net
Subject: Jane Fonda
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 20:29:04 GMT
Dear Ms. Blythe,
I read your article on Ms. Fonda and I have to agree with the veterans on their feelings. To explain a bit of where I am coming from, I am the daughter of a veteran who did not come home and never got the chance to meet my father.
My father was 17 years old and ordered by the courts to choose on either the military or a boys school for a simple teenage act that he paid for. The government need bodies to fight and took them any way they could get them. He chose to be a Marine and took the job very seriously. He and my mother met and fell in love. But he knew the commitment he made to the Marines and no matter what was going to fulfill his duties in the fight for freedom. He knew before he left that he wouldn't come home and wanted to have a child even though his chances of ever meeting them were slim. My mother gave him that dream.
Even though his records do not show of any children, his legacy lives on in me. He fought hard for our government along side many other young men. The days and nights for them, I can only imagine, were harder than anything any of us have ever had to face. They held to one another and fought for the rights of others. My father got to see one picture of me after I was born. He was killed by a mine on his way back in from an operation. This particular mine had to be triggered by someone nearby. Three other people had walked across it in front of him and then that enemy fighter chose to take his life. He would have been 19 in another month. I was 5 weeks old. The day my mother found out was the day her heart died with him for so many years. I have begun to meet and speak with the soldiers that fought beside him and I cherish the stories they share with me.
These men who fought for our government were not traitors to our country and yet they were treated as such. They are our sons, our brothers, our husbands, and our fathers. It does not matter if the government declared war or not. It does not matter if all of us didn't believe the cause. Those are not the issues. I do agree that to honor someone publically that proudly showed treason against our government and the men and women who did their patriotic duties is beyond my comprehension. Yes she did much for the promotion of health with her workout videos. But her activities during Vietnam are unacceptable. You show it as such an insignificant part of her life and yet if you read what was said then it was not so insignificant to her. I am ashamed that our society can overlook such blatant treason because of someone's celebrity status.
If you want to honor someone, find someone that I would be proud of telling my children about. I am ashamed that she calls herself a patriot and do not tell my two girls to use her as a mentor. The people that served and serve today are the ones that should be honored. Our society was cruel and heartless to those that served when they came home. It shames me that we forgot who they were and that everyone of them fought for our government and for us. Those that didn't come home finally got some sort of recognition with The Wall in DC but I still find it to be too little too late. Those that did come home are still treated with disgust many times within our society and I am ashamed to call myself an American for the way we treat others for doing what they felt was their patriotic duty.
Everyday, I miss my father. Everyday, I look in the eyes of his grandchildren and am saddened to know they will never meet the man that would adore being with them. Everyday, my arms ache to have been able to hug him and tell him I love him. Everyday, I am proud to say my father was a patriot who gave his life to save others. Everyday, I thank those that served along his side for being his friends, for giving me their memories, and for coming home to their families so that they did not suffer the pain my mother, my father's family, and I have had to experience. He could have run to Canada very easily since he was from Connecticut but he felt that it was his duty to serve his country even though he knew he was probably sacrificing his own future. He is a mentor for my children that I am proud to tell them about.
My older siblings all served in the military. One of my sister's just retired after 20 years in the Army. Her husband is still in the Army. They both served in Desert Storm and done many overseas tours. They also have made many sacrifices serving their country and fulfilling their duty. They both left a six month old child to serve in Desert Storm. At least after that conflict, they returned home to a heroes welcome. They deserved the honor they received. Our society needs to publically honor and welcome home our Vietnam Veterans and the families of those who did not come home.
Those are the heroes.. Those are the ones who deserve to be honored. Not someone who publically committed treason and I am ashamed that your magazine made it appear as though her actions were insignificant. Men died because of her actions. Families lost loved ones because of her actions. Men were tortured even more due to her actions. I do not honor her and will never consider her part of my sisterhood.
Sincerely,
Shannon Bond
Daughter of Sidney E. Barber
CPL 1st Battalion 5th Marines Delta Company
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 18:56:21 +0100
From: Karron Combs at: kcombs@usa.net
Reply-To: kcombs@usa.net
To: lhj@mdp.com, stan@stealth.net
Subject: RE: Jane Fonda
Ms. Blyth,
I am appalled and embarrassed that a magazine of the stature of the Ladies Home Journal would honour a woman of the lowest strata such as Jane Fonda.
You generously glossed over the most impelling information about Ms.Fonda, the fact that in one of ". . . her periodic personal transformations, she became active in protesting the Vietnam War." This was actually treasonous acts against the United States of America. She was, and still is, heartily despised by any man or woman who served in the Viet Nam war, and by any of the family members of those who served.
Had the military personnel had their way, Ms. Fonda would have been tried, sentenced, and executed for committing those despicable treasonable acts against her own country. Acts, that certainly prolonged the war and caused considerable death and destruction, not only to our men and women in Viet Nam, but to the civilian population of the country as well.
For her fifteen minutes of fame, Ms. Fonda caused untold misery to the men who were prisoners in the hands of the North Vietnamese. She brazenly posed for photographs in an enemy uniform, and bragged of wanting to shoot down American pilots. And she is someone we should honour?
I am a 44 year old female. I was a child and teenager in the years of Viet Nam, but I remember very well the horror my family felt when she portrayed her anti American personae for the world to see. She maligned and insulted every single serviceman who served in Viet Nam. Many, might I remind you, who were drafted and sent there simply because their number came up. All who served, however, served to the best of their ability, and many still bear the mental, physical, and emotional scars of that war. Ms. Fonda is the antithesis to these men and women. She is contemptible and has managed to reinvent herself long enough and often enough to cover her atrocities in money and power.
There is no doubt in my mind that Ms. Fonda has lived long enough that the younger men and women in America have no clue as to what she has done other than be a workout guru and marry a very rich man. But those of us of a certain age remember, oh yes, we remember, and we will never forget Hanoi Jane.
Shame on you Ms. Blyth, shame on Ladies Home Journal, for portraying one of the most shameful people of our generation as any sort of "important person."
I join all the others of my generation who served in, lived through, survived, and lost loved ones in Viet Nam in condemning you and your magazine for such a horrific act.
Karron J. Combs
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 12:05:32 -0400
From: Katy Porter at: blaize@leading.net
To: lhj@mdp.com, Roy Stanford stan@stealth.net
Subject: my response to Ladies Home Journal
Dear Ladies Home Journal: I had been a subscriber for years of your wonderful magazine, until a move then I began purchasing the magazine. I happend to buy the magazine where you praised Jane Fonda "Hanoi Jane". I was appalled. I served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War and frankly I was emabarrassed by this woman. Being a woman in the military during any conflict prior to Dessert Storm, women were not looked highly on while serving in the military. Jane Fonda "Hanoi Jane" did not help our situation when she fratranized with the enemy. I had diplomat duty and saw Saigon on many occassion. While in Saigon it was very difficult for me to hold my head up proudly because of her. I did and I was extremely proud of who I was. This woman has not done anything but continue to exploit the american people for her own gain. She is a rich woman in her own right without Teds help. She is a traitor to our country and will always be one in the eyes of anyone who served our country during a horrible time in our lives.
Sincerely
Katy Porter
formerly of the United States Navy
