Jane Fonda earned the nickname "Hanoi Jane" in 1972 for visiting North Vietnam and getting photographed atop an anti-aircraft battery, holding a weapon.
Now, she deeply regrets those pictures.
"Whenever possible I try to sit down with vets and talk with them, because I understand and it makes me sad," Fonda said at a recent speaking engagement, according to The Frederick News-Post. "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."
Jane Fonda on New Movie, Being a Mentor to Meryl Streep Jane Fonda Reveals Her Beau Richard Perry's Battle With Parkinson'sFonda, 77, added that she doesn't regret taking the trip, calling it, "an incredible experience." However, she does understand why military veterans picket her events sometimes, as they did last week.
“I’m a lightning rod,” Fonda said. "This famous person goes and does something that looks like I’m against the troops, which wasn’t true, but it looked that way, and I’m a convenient target. So I understand."