The Embankment Wounded Shoulders – 12

Diary of a Rescuer

Sabah Piri
Translated to English by M.B. Khoshnevisan

2025-6-22

The Embankment Wounded Shoulders – 12
Diary of a Rescuer

Sabah Piri
Translated to English by M.B. Khoshnevisan

Persian Version (1990)
Sooreh Mehr Publications

***

The Bengal Torpedo was a device that, when it exploded, pulverized barbed wire, but the person in charge of this torpedo had dropped the torpedo on the ground in order to reach the guys and be with them sooner and had come after us. Here, too, the Iraqi mujahed came to our aid and began clearing the barbed wire. We passed through there and reached the enemy canal, we advanced into the canal and treated the wounded. They brought a few prisoners, which one of the guys took to the rear of the front. As we advanced and bandaged the wounded, we came across a wounded man who had a machine gun with him. I put the machine gun on my back. The condition of the wounded was critical. They brought in one of the wounded and I wanted to bandage his head. I noticed that his skull had completely shattered. At the same time, one of the children brought the news of Haj Mameqani's martyrdom. I couldn't believe it, and this disbelief continued until the end of the operation, when Haj Mojtaba threw himself into my arms and burst into tears.

Ahead, Haj Amini, the commander of Hamzeh's Battalion, was standing inside the canal. Mehran had been liberated, and this was clearly visible on Haj Amini's face. As soon as he caught sight of me, he asked in surprise where I had gotten the machine gun. When I explained, he ordered me to deliver it to the guys in front, because they were in dire need of the machine gun. A little further ahead, they brought two Iraqi prisoners, one of whose legs had been amputated. The further we went, the more intense the fighting became. We had reached a point where there was almost no one left in the canal. There were solar barriers on the left and the right was free. I started advancing from the right and after a while I reached the guys who were busy fighting. They were waiting for reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible. I saw one of the guys sitting calmly and carefree, studying amidst the noise of the battle and explosions.

The intensity of the shooting was such that one of the guys who tried to raise his hand was shot and wounded. In the struggle, my trousers were torn badly from the back, so that the clothing underneath was completely visible. I was forced to wear a new pair of Iraqi trousers that we had captured. Although they were loose and a little disgusting, they were better than my own torn trousers. After two or three hours, I had to turn back. Mehran had been cleansed of the Baathist army's contamination, and a mysterious satisfaction was surging within me. Three days later, when I returned to Dokooheh, the division commander gave the guys an incentive and we went to Mashhad for the pilgrimage.

It was the second or third night of Muharram 1365 when we set off for the third time towards "Bamoo". We found accommodation in the emergency room in the area. The situation there was such that we had to stand guard every night.

The democrats attacked at night. A few days later, one morning after prayers, we were reciting the Ziyarat Ashura – Haj Mojtaba was doing this with a strange fervor – when suddenly two cannons exploded. The guys continued their pilgrimage without any concern, and the cannon fire continued until one of the bullets exploded right in front of the emergency room, and I suddenly saw a red flame. The person in front of me – Mehdi Givehchi – bowed his head and a shrapnel lodged in my forehead. When I put my hand on my head, I saw that my hand was full of blood, and by the time we reached the emergency room, I had lost consciousness. I underwent surgery at Bakhtaran Hospital. The night of the morning I was shot, the area was subjected to chemical attacks by enemy fighter jets, and the next day all the guys returned to the Koozran camp. The doctor had said that I would have to be hospitalized for four months, but after 15 days I felt better and left for the area; however, I was still not feeling well.

After a while, we moved towards Khorramshahr. It was the first time I had seen this destroyed city, there was not a single intact building to be found. After walking around the ruins of the city for a while, we chose a three-story building. The roof and walls of the building had many holes from artillery and mortar shells. We were supposed to prepare the ground floor there for an emergency room for chemical attacks. The emergency room was built differently from an emergency room for non-chemical casualties. We had to divide this place into three separate parts, but at the same time, these three parts had to be connected to each other. That is, first we would build the changing room where the chemically injured would take off their contaminated clothes, then the bathroom, and then the dressing and treatment areas. While these three areas were separate, their entry points had to be connected to each other. For about twenty days, the children worked hard to build the emergency room on the same floor of the building. The children who helped each other build the emergency room were: Ghiyassi, Mussapour, Baghalzadeh, Shahadat, Karakesh, Teymouri, Ashrafi, Farhangi Far, and others. They were ready to sacrifice their lives, and that too under the shadow of God's hand. They did things that were beyond the reach of ordinary people. All the work was done in twenty days.

One day before the operation, the forces entered the area. At night, Operation Karbala 4 began. Two days into the operation, a message suddenly came that we should turn back because there was a more important task ahead, and we were forced to turn back. But a few days later, we moved again to an unknown location. We passed Hamid's barracks and continued on the Shahid Mohsen Safavi Road until we reached a place where there were embankments on both sides of the road. We were supposed to build trenches, trenches about 40 meters wide!

One day before the operation, the troops entered the area. At night, the Karbala 4 operation began. Two days into the operation, a message suddenly came that we should turn back, because a more important task was ahead, and we were forced to turn back to the rear of the front. But not many days later, we moved again to an unknown location. We passed the Hamid barracks and continued on the Shahid Mohsen Safavi road until we reached a place where there were embankments on both sides of the road. We were supposed to build trenches, the ones about 40 meters wide!

There, it was Shalamcheh, I learned this later. All the guys’ vacations had been canceled and the Imam had sent a message: "We must deal a strong blow to the enemy." A month had passed since the great and historic dispatch of the army of the Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny); and all the guys were saying: "We will not return until we deal a significant blow to the Ba’athist enemy."

We started the work quickly. We were digging the ground when Ghiyassi left and returned three hours later with a pickup truck full of barrels. We understood that he wanted to implement the plan of Martyr Mameqani, who, before the Fav operation, used to dig a hole and place barrels around it to make it easier to build a trench. With this method, there was no need for sacks. I should also mention that the Division of the Prophet (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) changed location three times in two months, meaning a movement of 300 kilometers, which was very strange, and nothing else could have done this except the faith and sacrifice of the guys.

The children worked day and night, sometimes eating breakfast and lunch while doing their work; until the night of the operation arrived. It was the night of the martyrdom of Hazrat Fatima (PBUH), and the code for the operation was named after this great and devoted lady of Islam. We spent the night in the shed, and it was on this night that Haj Mojtaba told us the news of the martyrdom of the personnel officer of the division, "Vazehi Fard". He was the third martyr in his family. Before him, two of his brothers had been martyred.

To be continued …