[September 27, 2018] The day before yesterday, my wife watched The Hanoi Hilton (1987) starring Michael Moriarty. She asked me to watch it with her and I initially refused by saying I couldn’t see how a Hollywood movie director could treat a sensitive subject with respect and dignity.
I watched it more out of curiosity than anything else. As a student of military history and also being familiar with the situation of our Prisoners of War in North Vietnam, it would be difficult for me to sit through another inaccurate movie that made American POWs out as evil.
Regular readers know that I do not do movie reviews, nor do I recommend them. The reason is simple; my tastes differ from the average reader of my blog and writing reviews is not my style or within my expertise. I did like the movie. Director Lionel Chetwynd allowed his film to show that these men served under the most sadistic torture and deplorable living conditions one could imagine.
The movie is not a history lesson. It is about physical and moral courage, the good and evil of humans, the costs of honor, and respect and dignity. It lays out the horrific conditions that the communist North Vietnamese planned and carried out for nearly a decade without any U.S. interference.
Explicitly showing several high-level leaders of the peace movement in the United States at the Hanoi Hilton prison camp,1 we are witness to the depravity and blindness that some people allow themselves to descend into. Jane Fonda (played by Gloria Carlin) is one of them and as a modern-day American traitor, her cluelessness and carelessness in her words and actions at that time shows us how far some of our citizens have fallen.2
At the time of the movie’s release, a number of film critics gave unflattering reviews. Their focus was more on the “shallowness” of the characters and the lack of visual diversity. But the movie is powerful and makes you both proud and sad. It drives your emotions. It is about winning even when you are at your lowest level.
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- The “Hanoi Hilton” was a North Vietnamese prison camp during the Vietnam War and called Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi. The POWs sarcastically gave it the name Hanoi Hilton.
- https://www.theleadermaker.com/leader-trends-encourage-treason/
What we have is a war between democracy and socialism. Remember that democracy is based on Christianity and love and brotherhood, socialism is based on anti-Christianity, hate and envy.
The most important development at the Moscow “youth” forum was the pledge by the Soviet Union of $100 million for a “solidarity fund” to finance student rebellions in the western hemisphere.
It’s too easy to “buy” useful idiots like Jane Fonda. There is no intellectual basis for what they do. It’s all about feel good stuff.
Nothing has changed today. Useful idiots once bought can be resold and bought again.
There has been a lot of “opinions” written on the Vietnam War beginning with French involvement. Most of it is pure garbage. So the lesson here is to be skeptical about what you read or hear about it. In particular, if it comes from the US media or from academia, you can pretty much guess that much of the content is intentionally distorted.
One of the biggest anti-American “peace” activists during the Vietnam War was Mario Savio. Here is the glowing epithet that the NYTimes gave him (of course). Jane Fonda was just a useful idiot (to use Russian leader thinking).
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/07/us/mario-savio-53-campus-protester-dies.html
Good point. He died early in his 50s. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to be shamed by everyone.
Some identify Noam Chomsky as the leading intellectual opponent of the war in the US.
You’re right, Gen. Satterfield that movies are not history lessons. However, they do give us a glimpse into the past about what may have happened. And this movie did exactly that. It gave us some good info on how torture and deprivation were imposed on our POWs and yet when the US government found out about it, they did nothing. President Lyndon Johnson will be remembered for his gross failures in this regard.
Another great article. Thanks for bringing this back as a subject that should never be forgotten. Leaders today make excuses for those who protested America during the war but our history will always show that they were puppets of the Communists. Nothing will ever change it. There are lessons to be learned from this.
An older guest blog post by Edward M. Kennedy III got right to the point about those who were against America in the Vietnam War. Great read. I highly recommend it.
https://www.theleadermaker.com/leadership-lingering-toadeaters-vietnam/
I’m a fan of Mr. Kennedy III. Thanks for the reminder of his article that was the first one I’d read.
Good stuff here.
Loved the article. Thanks.
I agree. Also, women like Jane Fonda are the reason why many men don’t trust women with important decisions. When we are given the freedom to do the right thing, many of us screw up totally. Jane Fonda is only one of them and there has been a consistent pattern of stupidity for a long time now.
Well said.
Well done! An argument that goes to the core of the pro-socialist movement in America today. It had its beginning in the 1960s. Jane Fonda is the face of it. She can reinvent herself many times but she will always be a traitor to America. Calling her out on it was well done.
You can see the movie on Amazon Prime and iTunes but I don’t think it’s free to watch. Or just wait until it comes out on television.
Good article, Gen. Satterfield. I saw the movie last year in TV. Good movie to have your children see with you and explain how bad communism is to all peoples.
I’m always shocked at the number of people who don’t support the country they are from. Maybe it’s an American thing. Maybe we in America just have a lot more nutcases because we support them with taxpayer money. Comment on Jane Fonda … she is a traitor and will never live it down. She can be rich and famous but she is still a traitor and she will go to her grave with that on her mind. No amount of explanation will ever change that.
Anyone who went to North Vietnam to support their cause and especially those who visited our POWs and spoke out against them, should be tried for treason. If the US doesn’t do it, we will see more of this kind of stupidity.
Thanks for letting us know about this movie. I’d never heard of it before.
I saw it shortly after it came out. Good and patriotic movie. Shows a lot about the depravity of communism and those like Jane Fonda who support it.