The youngest drummer to join via official recruiting was 8 years old though some younger ones simply joined the ranks as armies marched through their towns.
They definitely came under fire and in some cases were seasoned combat veterans at very young ages. Willie Johnston, the United States' youngest recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, earned the nation's top military honor just shy of his 12th birthday for valor under fire.
Can you say PTSD? I wonder how many of these child soldiers actually led normal lives after the war.
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