<Begin Segment 7>

FA: There were a number of ways to evade the draft, some of them were pretty amusing. Can you tell me, like we talked about before, what were some of the more -- well, what were some of the ways that some of the guys tried to dodge the draft without protesting?

YK: Well, I think one of the more popular methods was to drink a lot of shoyu and presumably, that raises the blood pressure so that they could never pass the physical.

FA: Why didn't you do that?

YK: As I said before, we saw this as an opportunity to raise the issue; not to just get out of the draft just to save our own necks. I was certainly somewhat disappointed that my number came up in the initial stages of this whole thing, so I was, I was picked. I was certainly hopin' it would happen to somebody else instead of me, but since I was called, I could see no other choice, but felt that at least I have an opportunity to state the case.

FA: At the trial, when the conviction came down, how'd you feel about the verdict?

YK: Of course I was downhearted, because there was a very slim ray of hope that if we were exonerated, then, of course, that would make great strides in the publicity alone of that, setting a precedent would pretty much take care of a lot of this. Of course, it wouldn't conclude the issue completely, but it would certainly help.

FC: Was it worth it? Look at the last fifty years...

YK: Oh, yes, very much so. Not knowing it at the time, in retrospect, I think it's one of the more decent things I did in my life.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1993, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.