Lionel is one of the happiest people that I know. This is curious, considering the fact that Lionel has seen more death, bloodshed, and suffering than anyone. Lionel was born in 1966, but in 1979 terrible civil unrest broke out in his homeland of El Salvador. Eventually, Lionel had to flee to the U.S. for safety and political asylum. But what of his first true love Lionel was forced to leave behind temporarily? How could Lionel cross so many national borders and even make it to his family, already in the U.S.A., in California? What about all the dangers of being caught, dying from exposure, the possibility of being abandoned -or even killed? Did Lionel even make it to L.A. in one piece? Before rushing off to fight, many youth swelling with nationalistic pride -and possibly the pressure of recruiters, fail to see one important deal-breaker. War is terrible. In the light of the award-winning "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier, is this analytic look at survivors of the El Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980 s.