Milan Jiříček

"Everybody must have sensed it because it was all around us. It started the hippie era when young people took to the streets and burned appeal cards when they were drafted. And the images of the war were horrible. So it was easy to join in, especially when you're young. And I was very lucky. That was the lottery for Vietnam and my birthday was drawn, so I got to go. But the lucky thing was that my wife was pregnant at the time, I was new there, so they forgave me, so I didn't have to."

"I'll come out of the hotel at about three in the morning. And at four o'clock in the morning there's so much noise! The planes were flying. You turn on the news and you hear, 'We're occupied!' So it's about seven in the morning, I jump on my motorcycle and go to the first barracks in Holesov, saying I'm going to help save the republic. I get to the barracks, and there's a tank every ten metres, pointing at the guys in the barracks. So I knew there was no help here. And that I'd probably move out of here, that they wouldn't move out, that they'd be here for a while. So I was looking for a way to get a passport. That wasn't easy either, because there were these street files [street committees]. Well, just, the street people took care of your life. You needed permission from everybody."