Hanoi Jane

Annotation

Hardcore Punk group from the US, which released the song "Hanoi Jane" (NGS Records), out of Westmont, Illinois, USA, in which the narrator claimed that the group were "the last true patriots", who would not forget that "Jane Fonda sold out America". This, as above, was a reference to Jane Fonda, a famous actress and political activist who visited North Vietnam in 1972, and met with American P.O.W.s. She released a documentary in 1974 with her husband Tom Hayden, called Introduction to the Enemy, which depicted their travels through North and South Vietnam. Hayden, a political activist, one of the founding members Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), played a major role in the protests outside of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. He and several others were arrested for inciting riots, and they became known as the "Chicago Seven". See the list: . While in Vietnam Fonda posed in a photograph with North Vietnamese soldiers and an anti-aircraft cannon. She urged US soldiers to stop bombing North Vietnam and accused them of being war criminals. As mentioned above, she visited a select group American P.O.W.s, while also delivering 200 letters from P.O.W. families. These P.O.W.s apparently 'volunteered' to meet Fonda for a photo shoot, and many had turned against the war. When the P.O.W.s returned to the US in 1973, the government paraded a selected group of hardliners who supported the president and the war. Those that had met with Fonda were accused of being traitors and threatened with court-martial. One of them, David Wesley Hoffman, claimed that he had been "hung from a hook by his broken arm until he agreed to meet" with Fonda. On 31 March 1973, the Associate Press quoted Fonda as saying that "POWs who reported that they were tortured are hypocrites and liars". Because of these activities, Fonda became known as "Hanoi Jane".123 This theme featured in other songs, such as "Hanoi Jane" by Leon Rausch - see the list .Sources1academics.wellesley.edu↩2lrb.co.uk: Operation barbarella↩3The Vietnam War: An Encyclopedia of Quotations (Howard Langer, 2005)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Punk Songs

Hardcore Punk group from the US, which released the song "Hanoi Jane" (NGS Records), out of Westmont, Illinois, USA, in which the narrator claimed that the group were "the last true patriots", who would not forget that "Jane Fonda sold out America". This, as above, was a reference to Jane Fonda, a famous actress and political activist who visited North Vietnam in 1972, and met with American P.O.W.s. She released a documentary in 1974 with her husband Tom Hayden, called Introduction to the Enemy, which depicted their travels through North and South Vietnam. Hayden, a political activist, one of the founding members Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), played a major role in the protests outside of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. He and several others were arrested for inciting riots, and they became known as the "Chicago Seven". See the list: . While in Vietnam Fonda posed in a photograph with North Vietnamese soldiers and an anti-aircraft cannon. She urged US soldiers to stop bombing North Vietnam and accused them of being war criminals. As mentioned above, she visited a select group American P.O.W.s, while also delivering 200 letters from P.O.W. families. These P.O.W.s apparently 'volunteered' to meet Fonda for a photo shoot, and many had turned against the war. When the P.O.W.s returned to the US in 1973, the government paraded a selected group of hardliners who supported the president and the war. Those that had met with Fonda were accused of being traitors and threatened with court-martial. One of them, David Wesley Hoffman, claimed that he had been "hung from a hook by his broken arm until he agreed to meet" with Fonda. On 31 March 1973, the Associate Press quoted Fonda as saying that "POWs who reported that they were tortured are hypocrites and liars". Because of these activities, Fonda became known as "Hanoi Jane".123 This theme featured in other songs, such as "Hanoi Jane" by Leon Rausch - see the list . Sources1academics.wellesley.edu↩2lrb.co.uk: Operation barbarella↩3The Vietnam War: An Encyclopedia of Quotations (Howard Langer, 2005)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: ...You're a disgrace / Don't try to apologies / It's too late / 1972, we were down in 'Nam / Where were you... It's up to us, the last true patriots, to never forget how Jane Fonda sold out America / Start doing your exercise videos in Vietnamese bitch / We will never forget... / Never

About the artist

Hardcore Punk group from Westmont, Illinois, USA.

Themes

Anti-Government · Chicago Seven · Hanoi · Jane Fonda · P.O.W.

In collections

Punk Songs · 1968 Chicago Seven / Eight Songs · P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs