In the Shadow of Freedom: A Heroic Journey to Liberation, Manhood, and America [Paperback]

FROM POVERTY TO WEALTH, FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA, AND FROM CHILD SOLDIER TO U.S. MARINE

Born into the Congolese wilderness, Tchicaya Missamou became a child soldier at age 11. As a horrific civil war loomed across his country, Tchicaya began using his militia connections to ferry jewels, cash, computers, and white diplomats out of the country. By 17, he was rich. By 18, he was a hunted man, his house destroyed, his family brutalized in front of him by his own militia. By 19, he’d left behind everything he’d ever known, escaping to Europe and, eventually, to America.

Incredibly, that was only the start of his journey.

In the Shadow of Freedomis the uplifting story of one man’s quest to achieve the American Dream. Tchicaya Missamou’s life is a shining example of why America is a gift that should not be taken for granted, and why we are limited only by the breadth of our imagination and the strength of our will.Tchicaya Missamouwas born and raised in Brazzaville, Congo. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in education and is the proud owner of The Warrior Fitness Camp, Inc., a high-end personal training facility. He lives in Santa Clarita, California, with his wife, Ana, and three children, Marie Vagansi, Yana Simbasi, and Allan Kelvin Tamsi, The Legend.  Visit www.thewarriorfitness.com.

Travis Sentellwas born in New Orleans, Louisiana and currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he works as a screenwriter, essayist, novelist, actor and playwright.Brazzaville, Congo
1978–87
CHAPTER 1

The grass reached all the way to the sky.

I moved through it, a ghost, a whisper.

To my left, the stuttering swishes of the other hunters assaulted my ears and I cursed their clumsiness.

The sky was clear, hot, bright, and I wiped tiny beads of sweat away from my forehead. I parted the grasses for a better view.

There, in the distance, approachlÃÔ