Kanook Kibbutznick

Michael Hoover

Publisher: BookSurge

ISBN-10: 1419666509; ISBN-13: 978-1419666506

http://www.writersretreat.com/OkanaganValley.htm

Kanook Kibbutznick is a surprising story. It is an autobiographical adventure tale of the dedication of a Canadian to upholding the cause of universal morality. He is one that does so in the face of catastrophic obstacles at the potential cost to him of his sanity and life. Michael Hoover shows us a child that fought for the honor of his Christian nuns and priests at Catholic school. However, they did not appreciate his good intentions. Rather, they punished him. After other misunderstandings, the Kanook dropped out of school to work, using his off time to drink alcohol under a bridge with his cronies and to gather some legal difficulties. 

The protagonist eventually traveled to Seattle to live with an aunt. He attempted to enlist in the US Army, but was turned down and joined the US Marines in 1969, where he was trained to kill in Viet Nam - all at the age of 17. He had needed a direction, something to do, and a cause to champion and America was it. At the end of Kanook Kibbutznick, Mr. Hoover writes about the 40,000 Canadians that freely volunteered to serve in the US Armed Forces and how their records were unfairly lost or perhaps buried in obscure files after the Viet Nam Conflict ended.

It is not well known to Americans that there are 103 Canadian names etched into the black wall of the Viet Nam Veterans War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Other Canadian records that show their service to the USA in Viet Nam are coming forth and being recognized, finally, after 30 years. We Americans need to commemorate these individuals on the 4^th of July, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day at the very least. The fact that a Canadian citizen would subject himself to US Marine Drill Instructors and the horrors of Viet Nam is nothing but astounding. However, the Kanook not only survived, but also learned to thrive in this environment.  

Injured, recovered, re-upped for Viet Nam, wounded, and finally finished with the war, the protagonist made his way to West Virginia and began college on the GI Bill. However, he heard a speech by Golda Meir in 1973 after the atrociously unjustified slaughter - a hate crime - of Israeli Olympic athletes in 1973’s Munich. Profoundly moved to fight this injustice, he quit school and went to Israel and the Golan Heights to fight through volunteering in a kibbutz. His stories of the kibbutz are riveting. There is the account (sworn to be true) of an Israeli’s reprieve on the battlefield against the Syrians by a heavenly vision of 1000s of armed warriors on camels and horses behind him that horrified the enemy onto flight. This book is worth reading for such events alone, not to mention mountain climbing, ambushing the enemy for a Pink Floyd cassette tape, and being recruited into an elite Israeli assassination agency that also made use of the Kanook’s Shakespearean acting in Montreal.

Most interesting is the account of the miraculous things the human mind can accomplish when a person is held alone in an undecorated room without any stimulation – not even a pencil and paper, a book, or conversation. While there are stunning accounts of POWs in North Viet Nam replaying all their favorite golf courses mentally to hold their sanity; and of Holocaust survivors reciting the scriptures in the concentration camps for the same reason, Mr. Hoover’s accounts rival even these accomplishments.

This book contains horrendous moments and very funny ones as well. It is certainly hard to put down until read from cover to cover. The story causes me to reconsider the plight of war veterans of all eras and how they have suffered for America, even after returning home. I have known service men and women from the Civil War, WWII, Korean War, Viet Nam Conflict, Desert Storm, and the War in Iraq. They were Americans, Irish nationals, Canadians, and others from around the world, fighting for the USA. We need to treat them as the heroes they are, and remember them.

Kanook Kibbutznick’s author is a hero in many ways. Today, Michael Hoover operates the Writer’s Retreat-Okanagan Valley in Olive, not far from Penticton, B.C. where the Kanook grew up. There, he must surely be teaching people how to be heroes with words, using the dedication, patience, and highly concentrated focus he embodies in this book. Anyone in the latter part of high school and older should read it.

Patty Inglish, MS

US Representative to Supreme Council for Sports in Africa Zone-3