Vietnam War: Jane Fonda 1972 Visit to North Vietnam CIA, DIA, FBI, FBIS Files
795 pages of files dating from 1971 to 2010. Chiefly from American intelligence agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), covering Jane Fonda’s 1972 trip to communist controlled Northern Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.
Materials include:
A 2010 United States Air Force Air Command and Staff College research report titled, “Jane Fonda: Repercussions of her 1972 Visit to North Vietnam.”
Abstract from the report:
“Jane Fonda visited North Vietnam in July 1972. Her actions during that infamous visit earned her the title ‘Hanoi Jane’. Many feel she betrayed American troops and the United States; Vietnam veterans still despise the woman after nearly forty years. A factual historical account of her actions, words, and political alliances while in Hanoi provides insight to the strong emotional reactions that continue unabated. Her actions also exemplified the sometimes-narrow line between antiwar ideology and betrayal. Moreover, despite her stated intentions that she simply was an antiwar activist promoting peace, the ongoing debate continues if she committed treason by providing aid and comfort to the enemy.
Her messages broadcast over the communist propagandist Radio Hanoi changed how the American troops perceived the political will of the United States from the beginning of the war to its latter stages. Fonda’s words to the American POWs and servicemen embodied the inextricable connection between public support from the home front and the war effort overseas. Her statements against American prisoners-of-war and active pilots were so devastating that the North Vietnamese used them as a propaganda tool to deflate the morale of the American troops. The iniquitous legend of ‘Hanoi Jane’ continues because Jane Fonda caused irreparable emotional damage to Vietnam veterans.”
CIA Files
249 pages. Central Intelligence Agency situational reporting on Fonda’s trip to North Vietnam. Contains reporting on broadcasts from North Vietnam by Fonda, information from Project MERRIMAC, a domestic espionage program operated by the Office of Security of the CIA, on her activities, information on North Vietnam’s effort to solicit pressure from third nations to get the U.S. to end bombing campaigns in the North.
DIA Files
Defense Intelligence Agency reporting on Fonda’s meetings with U.S. POWs In Hanoi.
FBI Files
156 pages of FBI files dating from 1971 to 1975, focusing on Fonda’s political activism and anti-Vietnam War activity.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS)
Contains reports on Fonda’s broadcasts from Hanoi.
