Members, I recieved the e-mail about Jane Fonda just
as you did. It looked to be a hoax, so I did a bit of
research. It is a hoax. I contacted the person who
supposedly wrote it, and here is what he has to say:
D---
____________________________________________
Dear Don,
First, my apologies for the misinformation. The
e-mail which you received
did not originate with me, and in no way involves my
university. After
receiving it myself in early Spring of this year, I
sent it to one of my
friends, and wasn't aware that my e-mail "signature"
was appended to it.
My friend then forwarded the letter to an extensive
address book without
removing my name. I'm sure the fact of the name and
contact information
make the letter look completely valid to most people,
and now the letter
(with my name) is in wide circulation. Although I was
in the military
during the Vietnam years, I did not serve in combat,
nor was I in Southeast
Asia during the conflict. Many friends and
acquaintances of mine did
serve, and a couple didn't return. I would in no way
want to diminish
their contribution by making false claims.
Much of the information in the e-mail has been
difficult for me to
authenticate, but writer David Emery has apparently
researched this letter
more thoroughly. Dates are incorrect in a couple of
instances. One
thing is true; Jane Fonda did visit Hanoi and the POW
camp in 1972, and she
made flagrant statements against the war and the U.S.
government that
caused servicemen and their families a great deal of
anguish. The stories
about the subsequent torture and beatings are not all
true, and since I
have communicated personally with Col. (Ret.) Larry
Carrigan, I have
discovered that he never even saw Jane Fonda during
her visit. Most of
the letter is debunked in a website below. This was
sent to me by a
respondent who read the Fonda e-mail with my
signature. I only wish I'd
seen this before I sent the letter to my friend.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/weekly/aa110399.htm
-- then search "Fonda" as a keyword for the link to
the e-mail. This
account is by David Emery.
Jane Fonda, along with 99 other "Most Important Women
of the Century" was
honored by Barbara Walters in April '99, and
subsequently by Ladies Home
Journal magazine. (See following website)
http://www.moorej.org/jane/
In the brief biographies of the women, their
contributions were summarized.
Fonda's anti-war activism is mentioned, but her film
career and her
success as a workout "guru" in her several videos were
the major credits in
Ms. Fonda's bio.
Again, I'm sorry for the inadvertent "spamming" I've
caused. I'd
appreciate your sending back this information to the
person from whom you
received it, and I thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Charles Klingman
Addendum: 8Sept2000 - http://danford.net/vietnam.htm
Addendum: 19Sept2000
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHome.html
http://www.Vmyths.com/index.cfm
THE FOLLOWING IS FROM CPT (USN Ret.) MIKE MCGRATH,
PRESIDENT OF NAM/POWs:
[[[[[[[[[****** 11/9/99 Please excuse the generic
response, but I have
been swamped with so many e-mails on the subject of
the Jane Fonda article
(Carrigan, Driscoll, strips of paper, torture and
deaths of POWs, etc.)
that I have to resort to this pre-scripted rebuttal.
The truth is that
none of this ever happened. This is a hoax story
placed on the internet by
unknown Fonda haters. No one knows who initiated the
story. Please assist
by not propagating the story. Fonda did enough bad
things to assure her a
correct place in the garbage dumps of history. We
don't want to be party
to false stories which could be used as an excuse that
her real actions
didn't really happen either. I have spoken with all
the parties named:
Carrigan, Driscoll, et al. They all state that this
particular story is a
hoax and wish to disassociate their names from the
false story. They never
made the statements attributed to them. Systematic
torture of POWs by the
North Vietnamese did slow down in late 1969, after Ho
Chi Minh died. Some
camps were devoid of torture after 1969, but several
individuals continued
to be brutally tortured for information and
propaganda. Fonda's visit was
in late 1972. Treatment was starting to improve at
the time of her visit,
but at least one POW was hung by his broken arm to
force him to go before
Ms. Fonda (name withheld by request). Even the last
POW shot down and
captured, 1/27/73 was brought to Hanoi and brutally
tortured...only two weeks
before the first release of prisoners. You are
welcome to forward this
rebuttal to the Carrigan story as you like. No
acknowledgment of this note
is required. Thank you. Mike McGrath, President of
NAM-POWs,
<www.nampows.org> <mmcgrath@iex.net>
**********]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
>Mr. Klingman,
> I received this letter in an e-mail yesterday, and
was wondering if
>this is actually you or if someone is using your
identity to
>be a bit sinister. I like busting scams and hoaxes,
and in my spare time do
>a lot of research to accomplish this.
>
>Thank you
>
>Don Bell
>
>
>The following was forwarded to me by a friend.
>I think there are enough concerned patriots on the
list to appreciate it.
>It even contains the obligatory MV content (F-4E).
>
>Anyone know if the message is entirely factual?
>Sorry if this is not the proper forum for this
content.
>
>Shawn Carver
>scarver@tir.com
>----- Original Message -----
>Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 8:16 AM
>Subject: need to know
>
>
>Subject: Jane Fonda
>Hanoi 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. 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. The
pilot's name is 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, 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 1983-85, Col. Larry Carrigan was in 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?" 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 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
they 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
>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, 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.
__________________________________________________
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