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From August cast-off to October ace

By Jorge Arangure Jr.
ESPN The Magazine

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

PHILADELPHIA -- When Vicente Padilla is home he often hears stories from his uncles about the day the Sandinistas came to his house in Chinandega, Nicaragua, to recruit him as a boy soldier. The guerillas were looking for reinforcements to fight the U.S.-backed Contras during the bloodiest years of the Nicaraguan civil war, and boy soldiers often were put on the front line, the expendable pieces of war. The guerrillas search led them to Padilla's grandfather's house, where Padilla was staying. ...

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