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Jane Fonda was recently 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, sacrificed and suffered during the Vietnam War. Part of my conviction comes from personal exposure to those who suffered her attentions. The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot named Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1978, 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 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, which sent that officer berserk. In ’78, this USAF colonel still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying days) from the Vietnamese colonel’s frenzied application of a wooden baton. From 1973-75, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4Es). He spent 6 years in the “Hilton”– the first three of which he was listed as “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 point in my captivity, my weight had dropped to approximately 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.) We were Jane Fonda’s “war criminals.” When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, the camp’s communist political officer asked me 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 were receiving, which was far different from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by Jane Fonda, as “humane and lenient.” Because of this frank and candid response, 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 this information 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. Charles (Skip) Klingman
Ass’t. Professor of Music
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Weatherford, OK 73096
(580) 774-3219 FAX: (580) 774-3795
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