“I push a rusty wheelbarrow in a town where the air smells of blood and burning flesh. The breeze brings the faint cries of those whose last breaths leave their mutilated bodies. I pass them by,” says Ishmael Beah, remembering his dark past (Beah 18). A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier was the story of Ishmael Beah as a child during the Sierra Leonean Civil War (Beah 1). Ishmael Beah wrote the wonderful story published in 2007 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Beah 1). Child soldiers are a terrible military tactic that the United States, fortunately, has not experimented with much in the past; however, many countries use child soldiers, including countries in Africa (Denov and Maclure 244). The violent memories and lifestyle habits that these children develop and have experienced are disturbing and traumatic (Beah 14). The use of child soldiers can destroy children's physical and physiological futures; Furthermore, child soldiers must be eliminated from today's world (Beah 14). Child soldiers have been used around the world; however, they were widely used throughout the African continent (Denov and Maclure 244). Sierra Leone, located in Africa, was a prime example of the use of child soldiers throughout its civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002 (Beah 1). Ishmael Beah was one of many children who served as child soldiers (Beah 1). The concept of child soldiering occurs when a country or organization uses children in an act of violence (Young 19). The use of children as soldiers occurs for multiple reasons. The most common reason children are chosen is the lack of men to fight the opposing side (Denov and Maclure 244). They are simply used because strength comes in numbness...... middle of paper ......-481e-b3f7-260d21a423c8%40sessionmgr110&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN= EJ832069>.“Sudan.” Global reports on child soldiers. 2008. PDF. May 5, 2014Wolfson, Lara J. et al. “Estimated costs of achieving the WHO and UNICEF global immunization vision and strategy, 2006-2015.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 86.1 (2008): 27-39. Academic research completed. Internet. May 6, 2014. Young, Aaron. “Prevent, demobilize, rehabilitate and reintegrate child soldiers in African conflicts. » The Journal of International Policy Solutions. 2007. PDF. May 5 2014.