<Begin Segment 20>

TI: When you think about your life -- this is kind of my final question -- what do you take away from all this in terms of your life and all of the twists and turns and all the things that happened to you, I mean, when you think about your life, what's important to you?

IS: I think I'm a lucky guy of what I went through. I think it could have turned out much, I mean, looking at the other side, going to Japan, it didn't work out, but there were a lot of good things that happened. Being in Siberia, I think I suffered a lot, but I had some real good help. And especially when I read other's experience, I really think I was almost like made up to have somebody in the personnel office look after me like that, sending me to the places where he thought I would have it easier than if he had sent me to... or if I was appointed to go somewhere else. So I feel I was lucky. And things have worked out good for me after coming back, too. That experience of having friends where, to get involved in those social issues or things about, like the Vietnam War. I think when I went to De Anza College here and talked, I think I said the wrong thing about supporting the anti-war movement. Because I think there was a lot of Vietnam children who had come from Vietnam, their parents. So I think I should have said that in a different way.

TI: Which kind of gives me my final-final question, but so you became active. I mean, you became active against the war, the Vietnam War. Which I would not have suspected, given your life and how prior to that, you sort of accepted things. You accepted going to Japan when called there to be your uncle's adopted son, you accepted going into the Japanese army, you accepted even Siberia, but you didn't accept the Vietnam War. What's the difference?

IS: I think I give credit to friends at this church I went to. There was one man, Robert MacAfee Brown, he was, he taught at Union Seminary in New York, and then he came out to Stanford. That's when I really met him. And he's the one that, he was a Christian, but his Christianity was not... well, it's like I just got back from Europe and went to these nice cathedrals, had these stained glass windows and things. And they showed Jesus with a golden crown or something. This Robert MacAfee Brown wasn't like that. I think he would show Jesus toiling or helping somebody in trouble, and not somebody wearing a golden crown. He was that type of guy. And I think he had a lot to do with being involved in that kind of thing. And he died here just a week after, week before 9/11. And we have a lot of speakers. I go to some events where we have a theologian come and talk, but I don't know. I'm beginning to see more of that talk being like these beautiful stained glass window and not like Robert MacAfee Brown, somebody who went to jail for civil rights in the south and things like that.

TI: So it was the influence of this man, your friend, that really encouraged you to do this.

IS: Yes.

TI: Steve, any final questions? Okay, so Peter, we're gonna end the interview there. Thank you so much. This was really a great interview.

IS: Well, thank you.

TI: Thank you very much.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.