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"I become really upset and almost slapped the man, who insisted that I must present proof of birth in Sierra Leone even after I had told him no one had the chance to assemble documents of such nature when the war rerached them"(189).

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"As soon as we had crossed the clearing, the rebels sent some of their men to catch those who had made it to the bush"(25).

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"He gave me the gun. I held it in my trembling hand." (109).

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“We stayed in a big unfinished cement brick house along with other boys...During the day they mingled with the civilians, and we helped in the kitchen” (101).

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"As we were ushered into the truck, I stared back at the verandah where the lieutenant now stood, looking in the other direction, toward the forest," (130).

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"I can't walk through the park 'cause it's crazy after dark
Keep my hand on my gun 'cause they got me on the run
I feel like a outlaw..."
Similar to the lyrics of the song, Ishmael did not feel like a normal boy when they handed him the gun to go into war for the first time. After a while, Ishmael started to notice that it was not safe to be out after night, and all of the boys would sleep with there guns clutched to them as they slept every night.

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Ishmael Beah's memoir, A Long Way Gone, showcases his experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. In this book, he also talks about how he got out of his war life, started his new life in the United States.

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", we raided rebel camps, in towns, villages, and forests. We also attacked civilians villages to capture recruits and whatever else we could find" (122). The dandelion is a type of weed that, when blown in the wind, will take control of any area that they land in, and they begin to sprout again wherever they land. This is similar to what the army does to the boys. The army travels to different villages to take over the village and plant their base in that area.