In God's Hands

ROBERT WEBSTER -- San Francisco

Fonda Remembrances

As I read the excerpt from Jane Fonda's book My Life So Far [April 11], my mind flashed back to 1968-69, Quang Tri, Vietnam, when I was a Navy physician assigned to the 3rd Marine Division. Fonda will always be remembered and despised--not because she opposed the Vietnam War but because she was a traitor who went to Hanoi and gave aid and comfort to the enemy. She appeared in photo ops with the very military equipment that the North Vietnamese used to kill U.S. pilots and crew. Her actions were an insult to American troops. Many of us will go to the grave remembering the real heroes of the Vietnam War who gave so much for their country, while Fonda, the traitor, continues to take advantage of the fame and privilege the U.S. has given her family. She still hasn't got a clue about what she did.

MELVIN H. LAKE -- Kent, Wash.

Fonda's explanation for posing for a photo with North Vietnamese antiaircraft gunners during the Vietnam War is hollow, self-serving and 33 years too late. To many Vietnam-era vets, she is and always will be a traitor.

SCOTT HORNER -- Howard, Pa.

People want to forget just how wrong our country was to be in Vietnam and how much courage it took for Fonda to protest the war as she did. The traitors were the people who kept sending U.S. troops there to get killed. Fonda was and always will be a hero. We need people like her now.

TONI BOUTWELL -- Myrtle Beach, S.C.

So Fonda is sorry for that photo? She should show it by donating the proceeds of her book to veterans' programs. Only then would her apology ring true.

LOIS BLAIR -- Scotts Valley, Calif.

Gaining by Losing

Your Numbers column said John Antioco, CEO of the Blockbuster video-rental chain [April 11], received compensation of $51.6 million last year as the company lost $1.25 billion and its stock fell 47%. Would it follow that if Blockbuster had lost $5 billion, Antioco would have got $200 million? Only in the U.S. do we condone such obscene payment for bad results. Blockbuster's board of directors should be tarred and feathered by the company's stockholders.

JEFFREY WARNOCK -- Exeter, N.H.