Jane Fonda regrets 1972 visit to Vietnam gun site

NEW YORK- Jane Fonda regrets her visit to a North Vietnamese gun site in 1972, the actress and fitness guru said in an interview with CBS television show "60 Minutes" to be aired on Sunday.

The actress defended her trip to Vietnam in 1972, which won her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." But she said her visit to a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun site used to shoot down US pilots was a "betrayal" of the US military.

"The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter ... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal," she said, calling the act, "The largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine."

But she said she did not regret visiting Hanoi, or being photographed with American prisoners of war there.

"There are hundreds of American delegations that had met with the POWs," she said. "Both sides were using the POWs for propaganda. ... It's not something that I will apologise for."

Three decades on, Vietnam continues to be a divisive issue for Americans. During last year's election campaign, some Republican supporters of President Bush called his Democratic rival, Sen. John Kerry, "Hanoi John" for protesting the Vietnam War after fighting in it and receiving five medals for combat duty.

- REUTERS