A Former Child Soldier Tells His Story

Ishmael Beah Survived His Experience In Civil War, And Wrote About The Horror Of Sierra Leone's Conflict

(CBS)  "We had come to believe whatever our commanders were saying about how these other guys didn't deserve to live, that we were doing the right thing and this group was the only thing that was slightly organized, and so they become like a surrogate family in a weird way," he said.

His father figure was the lieutenant, who liked Shakespeare. Sometimes Ishmael would talk to him about the play he loved as a child, "Julius Caesar."

"Well, I did that as a kid, too," Ishmael said. "I used to recite it in the town square. You know, my dad was very proud of me to do that."

The bond between Ishmael and his commander may have helped save his life when U.N. workers appeared at the compound. Their mission was to rescue children forced into warfare. They spoke to Ishmael's commander.

"The lieutenant went around and selected a few of us and said: 'This man will take you and give you another life,'" Ishmael said. "And they took our weapons from us and we actually felt that we were being pulled from family again."

Ishmael and other child soldiers were brought to the safety of a rehabilitation center in the capital, Freetown. First there was detoxification to remove the drugs, and then deprogramming.

"Once the drugs wore out, then the memories started kicking in so quickly, you know, what you had been pressed to do was actually so bad, but now you had the consciousness to know that," he said. "But the people at the center were really absolutely kind to us. And so as time when on, I think this really kind of started making some of us really stop and think, and say these people are genuinely only seeing us as children and nothing more."

The layers of war and violence slowly shed. Ishmael's light had not been extinguished. And nearly a year later, Ishmael was selected to speak at the United Nations on behalf of the thousands of child soldiers all over the world.

"So here I was on a plane," he said. "I'd never been on a plane before. And then we get off the plane and there's this little things falling. So then I'm like, well, I've seen this film about Christmas before with this 'snow.' Maybe it's Christmas here all the time, you know? So I'm trying to find an association with what is going on, what I've seen. But everything was so shocking."

Part of the shock was he was dressed in summer-weight clothing and that caught the eye of New Yorker Laura Simms, who was working at the U.N. conference. On impulse, she gave him her coat. And her dedication to Ishmael continued after the conference ended and he was returned to Sierra Leone, where civil war was still raging.

"And I thought, my God, 'What if like I had been in the Holocaust 60 years before and somebody had flown me out to speak in New York with a group of kids, put me in a hotel with three meals a day, and then flew me back," she said.

Which is why Simms decided to get Ishmael out of Sierra Leone and adopt the 16-year-old.

College followed and now, his best-selling book and newfound acclaim.

"I have no idea why I survived," Ishmael said. "It was either pure luck or God was looking out for me."

Through it all, he was able to maintain his heart. That, he attributes to his upbringing.

"I was so happy as a kid, I had joy inside me that didn't completely get wiped out even through the madness," he said.

Somehow, the child inside the man did not die.

"Whenever I get a chance to observe the moon now," he read from his book, "I still see those same images I saw when I was six and it pleases me to know that that part of my childhood is still embedded in me."

Read an excerpt of "A Long Way Gone."

[lois-sez]

Laura Simms is a noted storyteller. I remember 10 yrs. ago when she 1st talked about her efforts to adopt Ishmael. It's good to see how well it has gone for both of them.
Now I'd like to see my fellow storytellers find a way to benefit those caught in the middle of the crisis in Darfur. We've done international benefits for the victims of the Tsunami & Hurricane Katrina & now Darfur is becoming another "Hotel Rwanda" that needs the world to help its innocent victims.

[pattyancey]

This was a wonderful and touching story. I am so happy for Ishmael and the wonderful woman who adopted him. This kind of story renews my faith in mankind.