Vietnam War-Era Photo Seen as a Bid to Tarnish Kerry

A 1970 photograph showing Fonda and Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry has surfaced on the Internet and TV news programs, fueling speculation that the GOP may try to make Kerry's anti-Vietnam War record an election issue by linking him with a former antiwar activist still reviled by many veterans.

The photo, taken at an antiwar rally in Pennsylvania where Kerry and Fonda gave speeches critical of America's military escalation in Vietnam, was published Wednesday in the Washington Times newspaper and later shown on television. The snapshot, which shows Kerry and Fonda sitting in a large crowd several feet apart, is among several being circulated among Vietnam veterans.

Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, received numerous medals for his service as a Navy patrol boat commander in Vietnam. But he returned home a disgruntled 27-year-old serviceman, and became a leading voice in the protest group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

Fonda's visit to Hanoi in 1972 to meet with North Vietnamese officials -- during which she criticized the U.S. government over Hanoi radio -- earned her the lasting scorn of many Vietnam veterans, who dubbed her "Hanoi Jane."

The daughter of venerable actor Henry Fonda starred in such films as "Klute," "Coming Home" and "The China Syndrome." She married Tom Hayden, an antiwar leader and later a California lawmaker, and made millions as a pioneer in the personal fitness craze of the 1980s. She divorced Hayden, then married billionaire Ted Turner. She and Turner were later divorced.

Many Vietnam veterans remember her for only one searing image: Dressed in Viet Cong combat fatigues and mugging for cameras while thousands of U.S. soldiers were fighting in Vietnam.

The photo of Fonda and Kerry was taken two years before Fonda's Hanoi trip.

The actress, who has apologized for her actions, told CNN on Wednesday that the effort to discredit Kerry by an association with her was part of "the big lie."

"Any attempt to link Kerry to me and make him look bad with that connection is completely false. We were at a rally for veterans at the same time. I don't even think we shook hands," Fonda said of the 1970 photograph.