Lithuanian-American author Algirdas V. Kanauka publishes memoir

Dr. Algirdas V. Kanauka offers plenty to history buffs in his memoir titled “Raven’s Flight to Freedom: Odyssey from wartime Lithuania to Land’s End America: A story of survival dedicated to those who retained their humanity amidst great evil. Righteousness ultimately prevailed, albeit slowly” (Xlibris, 2017).
 
Dr. Kanauka does not only regale readers with a beautiful story of his family but also reveals the horrors of war. The author narrates how it was like under Russian and German occupations, having witnessed them taking over Lithuania when he was young. Towards the end of the war, his family fled the country in fear of the returning Russians, cutting through Poland and arriving – and surviving – in wartime Germany. They lived in a DP camp until their eventual move to America, where they rebuilt their lives and integrated into society.
 
What propels the author to write a memoir such as “Raven’s Flight to Freedom?” “It’s from some inner urge,” explained Dr. Kanauka in his foreword, “to preserve my memories of events that shaped the course of my life rather than let them fade into the mist of the past, thus giving some permanence to my personal perceptions of events and interpretations of them.”
 
The author’s story spans almost a century, and he expects readers to find his views quite different from what most Americans and Europeans understand. Indeed, his book offers a unique view into the geopolitical struggles of Europe, its complexity and implication over time – as it comes from the perspectives of someone who was a nonparticipant or bystander living in the middle of wartime terror.
 
“My views and perceptions of events were less filtered by Russian, German, or even Allied propaganda machines during and after the war and may provide alternative insights of what happened,” said Dr. Kanauka. “I had to live and prevail amid bullets, bombs, hunger, and uncertainties of life or death, which took some doing.”
 
Dr. Kanauka hopes his readers would gain from reading “Raven’s Flight to Freedom.” “Maybe the reader can discover a connection between past history and current events, which are full of armed conflict, terrorism, refugees, and political propaganda. History repeats itself though not exactly.
 
“It is up to us to find the critical connections between the past and the present that will give us clues about what can be done to make future history evolve more in our favor.”
 
Dr. Algirdas V. Kanauka’s “Raven’s Flight to Freedom” will soon be displayed in the inaugural New York Rights Fair, which will take place on May 30 to June 1, 2018, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan, New York City.
 
Copies are available at Xlibris (https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001139548 and Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Ravens-Flight-Freedom-Lithuania-Dedicated/dp/1543430880/)
 
Readers are encouraged to visit the author’s website http://www.insideravenslair.com
 
Raven’s Flight to Freedom: Odyssey from Wartime Lithuania to Land’s End America
Written by Dr. Algirdas V. Kanauka
Published by Xlibris
Published date: November 30, 2017
Paperback price: $19.99
 
About the Author
Dr. Algirdas V. Kanauka was born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1931, into a family of a prominent university professor and surgeon Vincas Kanauka. Went to Germany before the end of World War II to avoid having to live under Soviet communism again. Survived the war through good luck and good will of some people. After the war lived in a Displaced Persons camp in Kempten, Germany four years. Immigrated to the USA in 1949. Attended State College Mississippi and then transferred to The Citadel Military college of South Carolina, from which he graduated (1954) with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAF. Became a navigator and electronic warfare officer (sobriquet- RAVEN) serving mainly as a combat crew member in Strategic Air Command’s B- 52, B-58 and RC-135 units. Was also assigned to European Command as a development engineer in West Germany.

Kanauka Retired from USAF in 1976 with the rank of major and went to work in aerospace industry in Southern California. After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, went back there to be consultant to the general staff and lecturer at the military academy there. Retired in 2015 to Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Received a Master in Business Administration from University of Dayton, Master of Science in Systems Management, and a Doctorate in Public Administration from University of Southern California. Awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, and several foreign decorations.

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