Day: March 19, 2025

How old were you during the war?

I interpreted in a deposition of a senior executive of a major Japanese corporation in connection with patent litigation in the US. Things were going well, until one question from the examining attorney near the end of the allotted time for the deposition.

The question came just after the attorney went back at the end of the deposition to ask about the educational background of the deponent, something that is normally done at the beginning of a deposition. In part of his reply, the Japanese executive indicated that he attended the Army Cadet School just before WW2. This prompted the attorney to ask “So how old were you during the war?”

This was to be a jury trial in a state that is not known for being generous with non-Americans. The attorney was fully aware of that, and I can only imagine that it would be seen as advantageous for the jury to think that the deponent had—or at least was old enough to have had—participated in WW2.

Naturally, the attorney on the defending side justifiably went berserk. Such a question had no bearing on the merits of the case. Getting to watch this kind of provocation and the reactions thereto unfold is arguably a benefit to deposition interpreters. Mostly, though, it is mind-numbingly boring, particularly if the subject matter is something the interpreter is not interested in.

A Bit of History

I’ve got a bit of “history” with Russia.

When I served in the US Navy, I studied Russian at Defense Language Institute in Monterey for about a year, sitting in classrooms studying the language for a total of hours that exceeded what I would have spent learning the language over six or more years at a university, something I calculated when I was told after graduating that I could now get an undergraduate degree in Russian with no additional language credits.

Although this was during a time when many US military people were occupied with fighting a war in Vietnam, I spent the my time in the Navy occupied with activities related to the country that in 1991 changed its name but nothing much else.

With that as my personal backdrop, I am now watching with considerable distress, disgust, and disappointment as Russia continues its expansionist war of aggression against Ukraine—probably a prelude to greater expansion if they are not stopped—and is clearly committing war crimes.

And as this is going on, Trump and his merry band of sycophantic minions seem unwilling to attack or blame Russia, and they are effectively helping Russia in its information war and battlefield war efforts, while insulting and alienating vulnerable allies in Europe and elsewhere. The Democrats and most Americans appear to be paralyzed. What has gotten into people?

Both Trump and his friend in the Kremlin must be stopped. This time, we must finish the job and not allow a repeat of the failure of 1991, and 2025 must not be allowed to be a rerun of Munich in 1938.