Oblivious LA officials declare 'Jane Fonda Day' to honor her 'climate change activism' without realizing the date is same as the Fall of Saigon or acknowledging her inflammatory anti-Vietnam war past

14/05/2024

Jane Fonda was pictured on a Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in Hanoi in 1972Fonda was recently recognized by officials in LA with 'Jane Fonda Day' Vietnamese-American lawmakers immediately began pressuring officials

Officials in Los Angeles have backtracked on a decision to rename April 30 as 'Jane Fonda Day', due it being on the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.

The actress and known anti-Vietnam war activist was recognized last month by Los Angeles County to honor her 'tireless and important climate activism'.

The move however was widely panned Vietnamese-American lawmakers who immediately began pressuring officials to rescind the recognition.

Fonda, 86, was heavily criticized and dubbed 'Hanoi Jane', after posing for photos with North Vietnamese Army soldiers sitting on their anti-aircraft guns in 1972 during the Vietnam War.

She was also interviewed for communist radio broadcasts during the war, with some US authorities labelling her protests as treason.

The actress and known anti-Vietnam war activist was recognized by Los Angeles County to honor her 'tireless and important climate activism'

Fonda visits an anti-aircraft position in North Vietnam in this July 1972 photo

Actress Jane Fonda, seen at a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun surrounded by soldiers and reporters, sings an anti-war song near Hanoi during the Vietnam War in this July 1972 file photo

Janet Nguyen, who's mother and father were jailed after the city fell were imprisoned after trying to escape the country.

Nguyen eventually made it to California, where she became a state senator, telling Cal Matters that April 30 was 'a day that we mourn'.

She told the outlet: 'I pleaded to them that, you know, if you’re not going to rescind that, you at least change the date. April 30 is not the day.'

Nguyen was left outraged by leaders of LA County over the move to rename the day for Fonda, and immediately began pressuring leaders.

Tri Ta, a member of the California State Assembly, was equally disgusted after learning of the move.

Ta and his fellow assembly member Stephanie Nguyen wrote a letter signed by almost every Republican member urging officials to backtrack on the decision.

Their letter said: 'This honor for Ms. Fonda is an affront to the service and sacrifice of American and South Vietnamese soldiers who gave everything in the cause of freedom.'

Ta told Cal Matters: 'I was really, really upset because [Black April] is a really sad day for almost every Vietnamese American here.'

Fonda at the Hammer Museum's Gala in the Garden held at The Hammer Museum on May 4, 2024 in Los Angeles

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Horvath, left, presents Jane Fonda with a proclamation that April 30th is "Jane Fonda Day" in Los Angeles County

On Friday, LA County officials announced they would be changing the date, saying in a statement: 'Out of respect for the community voices who have spoken up, we will introduce a motion at our next regular meeting of the Board to make Jane Fonda Day April 8 as part of Earth Month.'

Just the week before, Lindsey P. Horvath, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors welcomed Fonda to a board meeting to celebrate the move.

She said: 'Jane Fonda’s activism knows no bounds. Where Jane focuses her passion and heart, great things happen.

'Starting today, we proudly proclaim April 30th each year as ‘Jane Fonda Day’ in Los Angeles County, in recognition of her incredible contributions to entertainment, environmental sustainability, gender equality, and social justice.

'Let’s continue to engage in service and advocacy for social and environmental justice, following Jane Fonda’s example of using our voices to make a difference in the lives of others, and protect our planet today and for future generations.'

In accepting it, Fonda said: 'This is so beautiful, I am so honored and grateful. Thank you to Lindsey and the Board of Supervisors.

'I am kind of blown away, I cannot believe there is a Jane Fonda day. This is wonderful, thank you very much.'

In this file photo two U.S. Marines support a wounded soldier as they leave a building which came under attack, February 6, 1968 in South Vietnam

The body of a slain comrade is carried to an evacuation helicopter by soldiers of the U.S. 1st cavalry division in the Ia Drang Valley early in the week of Nov. 15, 1965

Fonda has repeatedly apologized for the pictures of her with the anti-aircraft guns, saying her actions were in protest of the US Government and not US troops.

In addressing the infamous picture in her 2005 memoir 'My Life So Far', she said: 'Someone leads me toward the gun, and I sit down, still laughing, still applauding.

'It all has nothing to do with where I am sitting. I hardly even think about where I am sitting.

'The cameras flash. I get up, and as I start to walk back to the car with the translator, the implication of what has just happened hits me.

'Oh, my God. It’s going to look like I was trying to shoot down U.S. planes! I plead with him, “You have to be sure those photographs are not published. Please, you can’t let them be published.”

'I am assured it will be taken care of. I don’t know what else to do. It is possible that the Vietnamese had it all planned. I will never know.

'If they did, can I really blame them? The buck stops here. If I was used, I allowed it to happen. It was my mistake, and I have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for it.'

In 2015, 50 veterans protested her appearance at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Maryland.

The large group held up signs that said 'Forgive? Maybe. Forget? Never'. Fonda later told the crowd: 'It hurts me and it will to my grave that I made a huge, huge mistake that made a lot of people think I was against the soldiers.'

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