I thought I had seen the last of traitorous Americans cursing our soldiers or calling for them to be killed when the last American combat troops were pulled out of Vietnam following the 1973 Paris Peace Treaty.
After the disgusting display by anti-American, pro-Iran thugs in Philadelphia and the perfidious “No Kings” protestors last weekend, it appears I was wrong.
To the fatuous “No Kings” demonstrators: since when is a king elected by his subjects? Almost 80 million Americans voted for Donald Trump as president. However, in 2024, Kamala Harris was “selected,” not elected, to be the socialist Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. Where were the “No Queen” protestors when that happened?
In any case, there was certainly nothing spontaneous about the “No Kings” protests. Reports revealed that “Indivisible,” the main organization behind the demonstrations, and some 500 other groups (including George Soros & American communist Neville Roy Singham, who lives in China), shelled out some $3 billion to fund the multiple nationwide rallies.
It is also rather stunning that “King Donald” is allowing herds of “No Kings” lackies, sycophants, and mindless minions to assemble, protest him, and demean American forces currently risking their lives in the Middle East. All I can say is “King Donald” must be the most benevolent and merciful king in the history of the world.
But “King Donald’s” benevolence didn’t stop there. During a demonstration in the “City of Brotherly Love,” pro-Iran protestors rooted for the destruction of U.S. military bases and called for American soldiers to be returned home in caskets. Nary a government enforcer or kingly secret agent moved to stop the treasonous blather or anti-Trump gibberish.
Not very kingly of our constitutionally elected monarch, wouldn’t you say?
It was difficult to tell whether the malevolent creatures who gathered to discredit and debase our military men and women were Americans or radical Muslim migrants, because many wore keffiyehs to cover their heads and faces.
How brave of them.
In case you missed this blatant expression of treason, here is a short clip:
If there were radical Islamist immigrants in the crowd, I would have to wonder why they are in our country shouting, “Down with America!” Why would they want to live in a nation that they so vehemently despise and want to see destroyed?
Why not return to Somalia, Gaza, or any of the other dung hole countries they forsook to reside in America, a place they clearly have such unabated hatred for?
And why cover their faces? Weren’t they proud of their pro-Iran rants or their wishes to see Americans coming home in coffins? Or maybe they were just unctuous cowards out to exercise their tonsils all the while knowing that they could do so in a nation that protects free speech—even speech as loathsome and nauseating as theirs.
Such anti-American displays remind me of the 1960s and 1970s, when leftists and socialists attacked and disparaged American soldiers for their service in Vietnam. More than 58,000 Americans died in that 10-year-long war, and another 300,000 were wounded. And just like today, American leftists and their communist cousins harassed and denigrated them. Not much has changed
I vividly recall the 1972 testimony of then-27-year-old John Kerry before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he vilified the millions of men and women who served in Vietnam, calling them “monsters” who committed atrocities daily.
“They (the atrocities) were not isolated incidents, but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command,” the 27-year-old former Navy lieutenant charged. At the time, Kerry was representing Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW).
Veterans, such as I, deeply resented his descriptions and allegations of pervasive atrocities. I still do.
Kerry’s accusations were an unfair generalization that “swift-boated” or slandered the service of millions of honorable soldiers who risked their lives, were wounded, and died in service to our country.
It didn’t take the self-absorbed, egocentric Kerry long to turn his 15 minutes of fame at the hearings into a political career, culminating in his failed 2004 presidential campaign. Veterans never forgot what he said in 1972. His Senate remarks became a central point of attack by the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,” who thankfully helped derail his presidential ambitions.
The other day, when I watched the video of those Philadelphia protestors cheering for the death of American troops in the Middle East, Kerry was the first person that came to my mind—followed immediately by “Hanoi Jane” Fonda.
The same year that Kerry was disparaging American troops in Vietnam, then 35-year-old Jane Fonda spent two weeks in North Vietnam providing support and inspiration to the Communist North Vietnamese.
Her most infamous bit of pro-enemy propaganda occurred when she climbed onto an anti-aircraft gun and posed for a photograph—the ultimate act of “aid and comfort” to the enemy. The photo showed Fonda laughing while looking through the gun’s sights. The fact that it was a weapon designed to kill American pilots apparently eluded her.
But it didn’t elude thousands of veterans, who quickly rebranded her as “Hanoi Jane.” Former POWs at the Hỏa Lò Prison (infamously known as the “Hanoi Hilton”), where American Prisoners of War (POWs) were held, bitterly recalled Fonda’s visit to the prison.
They were especially incensed when she made propaganda broadcasts from Hanoi in which she called American soldiers “war criminals” and declared the prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton received “lenient and humane treatment”—a claim later refuted by surviving POWs who described frequent beatings and systematic torture.
After their release, several POWs angrily remembered Fonda’s visit and how a few men who refused to talk to her were later beaten and tortured.
When Fonda returned to the United States, some members of Congress called her actions treasonous and urged the Department of Justice to indict her. The House Committee on Internal Security held hearings on her visit to Hanoi.
The Maryland State Legislature famously held hearings to try to ban her and her films from the state. One delegate even suggested she should have her tongue cut out.
Fonda didn’t lose her tongue for her traitorous acts, nor was she ever prosecuted.
Why not? Legal experts noted that the U.S. had not formally declared war on North Vietnam, making a treason conviction constitutionally difficult. Additionally, the Nixon administration was wary of turning her into a political martyr.
Hanoi Jane eventually apologized for the anti-aircraft gun photo, calling it a “huge mistake” that she would regret to her “dying day.”
Now, Fonda is back at it again, this time criticizing the U.S. attack on Iran.
Hanoi Jane has leveled several specific accusations against the U.S. administration’s handling of the conflict. She has repeatedly accused the administration of violating international law, the U.S. Constitution, and the War Powers Act. She criticized the air strikes for their human cost, specifically citing reports that a girls’ school in Iraq and other civilian targets were bombed.
During a rally at the Los Angeles City Hall, Fonda accused the administration of putting “profit over people” and engaging in the conflict to score a political victory.
“You may wage this war in our names, but not with our consent,” Fonda said.
She called the U.S. air strikes on Iran “a dangerous and insane repetition of history,” specifically referencing how the 1972 bombings in Hanoi targeted civilian infrastructure—much like the reports she cited regarding alleged strikes on civilian targets in Iran and Iraq.
Fonda is correct. History seems to be repeating itself as far as her anti-American activities are concerned. Just as she argued that her 1972 trip to Hanoi was an attempt to “stop the killing” and bring servicemen home, she is applying the same sentiment to the American troops involved in the Iran conflict, whom she claims are being put at risk without justification.
Well, at least Hanoi Jane is consistent. I guess we can be glad that no American soldiers, sailors, or pilots are being held in a “Tehran Hilton.”
If they were, I’ll wager 88-year-old “Tehran Jane” would be right there, perhaps mugging for the cameras again as she pretends to launch a Shahed drone at American forces.
Yes, Jane. History does indeed tend to repeat itself, especially if you refuse to learn from it.
–30–
If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to ForeignCorrespondent and tell your friends to subscribe. “It’s free—what a deal!” If you’ve received this from a friend and would like to be added to our distribution list for future blog posts, simply enter your email in the notifications box to sign up:
https://ronaldyatesbooks.com/category/foreign-correspondent.
You can also find my commentaries on Substack at https://ronyates.substack.com/ and the American Free News Network at https://afnn.us.
Please feel free to comment: We genuinely love hearing from you!
🇺🇲