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Ishmael Beah is a former Sierra Leonian child soldier. He chronicled his experiences in his memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier. Civil war broke out in Sierra Leone in 1991, and Beah was forced into combat at the mere age of 13. He fought for three years before being rescued by UNICEF. With their help, he was able to escape Sierra Leone in 1997 and move to New York City where he attended the United National International School and Oberlin College.