A New Compilation Of Jane Fondas Radio Hanoi Recordings Sheds Light On Her Betrayal Of American Soldiers

The Hanoi Tapes: A New Look at Jane Fonda's Treatment of American POWs

A New Compilation of Jane Fonda's Radio Hanoi Recordings Sheds Light on Her Betrayal of American Soldiers

Between 1965 and 1972, almost 300 Americans were held captive in North Vietnam. Many of these prisoners of war (POWs) were subjected to torture and inhumane conditions. A new compilation of Jane Fonda's Radio Hanoi recordings, along with the Voice of Vietnam interludes between them, reveals that Fonda played a role in the mistreatment of these American soldiers.

North Vietnamese press reported and Fonda later confirmed that she made several radio announcements over the radio during her two-week visit to Hanoi in 1972. In these broadcasts, Fonda urged GIs to rethink what they were doing and to question their loyalty to the United States. She also praised the North Vietnamese for their "courage" and "determination."

Fonda's broadcasts were used by the North Vietnamese to demoralize American POWs and to justify their treatment of them. The POWs were often forced to listen to Fonda's broadcasts, and many of them came to believe that she had betrayed them. One POW, Air Force Colonel John Flynn, said that Fonda's broadcasts "were like a knife in the back."