A review of book "An Unknown Hero"

Oral History of a Captive Veteran Khosrow Adamnejad Ghafoor

Compiled by: Fereydoun Heydari Molkmian
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2021-11-16

Note: Najmuddin Asadi conducted the interview, research, and compilation of the book entitled "An Unknown Hero" for the general directorate of Preservation of Relics and Publication of the Values of the Sacred Defense in West Azerbaijan. The 500 copies of the book have been published in a ministerial edition with a price of 400,000 Rial (Iranian currency) and have entered the book market.

The book has a beautiful cover design, and after a four-page table of contents that includes all the chapters and sub-tittles in general and in detail, it begins with a short introduction and two pages from the Sacred Defense Documentation Organization. After that, two more pages are devoted to the preface written by retired colonel Najmuddin Asadi (interviewer, researcher, and editor). The text of the book, which is arranged in the form of questions and answers, consists of eight separate chapters and usually, each chapter (except the first chapter) has several or more sections. Next, the pages are dedicated to photos (which are of relatively good quality), maps (apparently not used in the book!), documents, and finally to the announcement list.

As stated in the Preface to "An Unknown Hero", this book contains the memoirs of one of the relics of eight years of sacred defense; a veteran captive who spent his life in the combat units of the army. He has appeared in various responsibilities such as commander of the 64th Division of Urmia Warriors Battalion and commander of irregular battles in the western base of the army and participated in several offensive and defensive operations, including clearing the cities of Piranshahr, Oshnoyeh, Mirabad, Sardasht and other transportation paths of West Azerbaijan province, and foreign operations such as Valfajr 2, Karbala 2, Karbala 7, Beit ol-Moqaddas 5, Ramadan, Nasr 3, Nasr 9, etc.

In the first chapter of the book, the captive veteran Khosrow Adamnejad Ghafoor, deals with the period before he joined the army. First, while introducing himself, he talks about his parents and their religious beliefs. He then recounts memories of his adolescence and youth, referring to the neighborhood in which they lived. He tells of the teachers and principals of the schools where he studied and that he joined the army immediately after graduating. The end of this chapter is accompanied by his marriage and having a family.

The second chapter covers the training course until entering the first operational unit. In 1977, he was accepted into the Air Force as a pilot and went to the 01 Barracks in Tehran for training. But when the popular demonstrations increased from the beginning of 1978 and the revolutionary events reached their peak, he left the barracks and went to his uncle's house, until the revolution won. And he returns and introduces himself to the barracks. Then he was sent to the Shiraz Infantry Center, and after training such as map reading and night combat, etc., with the rank of second lieutenant, he selected the 64th Infantry Division of Urmia to serve and introduced himself to it from October 1979. This choice was being made while parts of the cities of West Azerbaijan were engaged in the war against the revolution.

The third chapter is dedicated to his participation in conducting irregular operations and clearing in the interior of West Azerbaijan province. These operations begin almost with the capture and liberation of Piranshahr from the counter-revolution and continue with the operations of liberating the Piranshahr-Oshnoyeh area, liberating Oshnoyeh, clearing the Oshnoyeh area to Jaldian, liberating the Piranshahr area towards Sardasht, and liberating the Alvatan region. After that, there is talk of the operation to seize Dolato prison and liberate the Mirabad district of Sardasht. Also, in the continuation of the mission with the Ranger Battalion of the 64th Division of Urmia and the mission of identifying Qandil and returning to the commando Battalion, a series of other reconnaissance and clearing operations are mentioned that were carried out in some area of neighboring cities and villages in the province.

 The topic of discussion in the fourth chapter is the classic operations and war with the Ba'athist regime, which begins with the identification of the Kalashni area of operations and Qader operations, and is accompanied by an Iraqi attack to Kalashini Heights and Heights 2519 operations and capture of the military base, struggle in Shohada Hill, etc. When he conquers the Sukanian heights with 20 forces of the Army Battalion and launches an operation against Operation Forough Javidan of the Hypocrites in the Kermanshah region, he receives two victory medals and the plaque of the war hero.

In the fifth chapter, it is the turn of outlander missions. His moves to the western camp coincide with the beginning of these missions. The mission of Chaharbagh in Iraq, the mission to Mehran (Kanyesht heights), the mission of Zarbatieh, and the mission of protecting the air cover radars of Ilam, etc., all of which are related to foreign operations in Iraq.

Chapter 6 describes the beginning of captivity at the hands of the enemy on December 17, 1997. At first, small incidents and problems are mentioned that provide the ground for a great story that leads to captivity at the hands of the Iraqi intelligence forces.  He was later reported to have entered an Iraqi prison and endured torture in a Baghdad prison, which even went as far as receiving a death sentence for espionage, but was later reduced to life imprisonment.

Chapter 7 tells the story of the release of Khosrow Adamnejad Ghafoor from captivity, that this period finally ends on March 21, 2003, and prisoners will be exchanged to the Khosravi border accompanied by the Iraqi Foreign Minister. Then, the issue of applying for retirement is discussed in the continuation of this chapter. He, who has been involved in many operations during his tenure, decides to apply for his pension. Although after a while his request was finally approved, he was informed that he can continue his cooperation if he wishes.

Finally, the eighth chapter deals with the life after the release from captivity and the retirement of veteran Khosrow Adamnejad Ghafoor. Of course, during this period he continued his military cooperation and operational planning with government organizations and even went on various irregular missions in the western regions. Because, in his opinion, it was worthwhile to make good use of the war experiences of 8 years of sacred defense of the retired military forces, as well as the guerrilla war experiences of these forces that they have had in the internal conflicts. He also emphasizes that one should always be diligent and steadfast in raising the flag of Islam and promoting the national security of the country, which will pursue national interests.