In September of that year, 1968, there was an international congress of genetics in Tokyo and I, Milan Hašek and Pavol Ivanyi went to that meeting. It was in that time, you know, we didn't... it was a problem to pay with hard currency. So we had to pay with Czech money, which was not accepted everywhere, and... so we flew with Czech airlines as far as we could. They didn't fly to Tokyo, but as far as we could. So we... I remember that this trip I don't take travel easy. I get... not anymore, but used to... used to get at the beginning, I get sick on the plane. But the memorable thing about it was that is hopping flight. So, first stop was in Athens. Then it was in Kuwait. Then it was somewhere in the India. Then it was not really Australia, but somewhere down there, and then slowly up north again to Japan. So a very memorable flight in that time.

Now, I was at the meeting and one night I came home and the telephone was ringing in my room, and I got there. It was Len Herzenberg on the phone and he said, 'I know you are terribly upset now but think about it and call me in the morning. If you don't want to go back we will go tomorrow to the American embassy and I will arrange everything that you can go to the United States and you can then decide whether you want to go back or not'. I said, 'Len, what's the matter? What's the...?' I didn't have any idea. They all knew already. On that day Prague and Czechoslovakia was invaded by the armies of the Warsaw pact, of course led by the Russians. So there were tanks in Prague and the situation didn't look very rosy obviously.