<Begin Segment 40>

AI: Well, now I know that, unfortunately, the Mochizuki case, it had been going on for a couple of years and the U.S. government had offered a settlement that was not, not equal to what other Japanese, the Japanese Americans had received in redress. And so Art and his brothers and some of the other members of the class decided not to accept the settlement. And did you and Art discuss this, or did you hear some of the thinking of the folks who decided to opt out?

BS: Well, Art and I discussed it because I felt it was an insult. Because the letter did not even mention Japanese or Japanese Peruvian, it really didn't explain. So it was like a letter that, an apology that could have been written to any group, any group of people. And I, I didn't think that was right because the apology I got, at least it mentioned Japanese Americans. And then, and then to, they offered five thousand dollars, it wasn't, it wasn't the money, it's just the principle of the thing. And I said, "You suffered, you Peruvians have suffered more than Japanese Americans because you were taken from a country that was not even at war." And here they were living their life and all of a sudden they're taken and brought to a foreign country. They didn't speak the language, they didn't know where they were going, and for what? And I said, "That was terrible." So I really supported him to opt out. Because that was one of the options, that you could accept it, and if you accepted it then you couldn't sue any further. But if you opted out, you were free to opt out and file your own individual suit against the government. So we, so I think there were, Art and his brothers and, I think seventeen in all that opted out.

AI: And then they did go ahead and sue the government again.

BS: Yes, yes. But it was, I think it was earlier this year. You know, they... it was dismissed.

AI: Right. And so then, I understand now, Art was saying that their lawyer has brought their case to the international arena.

BS: Yes. Because it was a war crime because they were, they took a group of people who were, the country was not at war and brought 'em into a war zone, to a country that was at war. So that would be considered a war crime.

AI: It's, it's hard to believe, I think, from a person who hasn't heard this history before.

BS: Uh-huh. Yes.

<End Segment 40> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.