Memories of Mohammad Reza Ramezanian about sacred defense

Making Bulwark Using "D-8" and the command of engineering unit

Ahmad Reza Amiri Samani
Translated by Fazel Shirzad

2018-10-23

Military engineering unit may have remained unknown to many of people, but for many militants, it is one of the most famous names that played a vital role in all operations. Military engineering operations were not solely about the construction of a bulwark and a fortress, they were always one step ahead of the rest of the warriors. The bulwark of war were made by these brave warriors. That is, they went to the battlefield without any protection and made bulwarks that it was supposed to be used by combatants to shelter behind them and fight. Bulldozers and loader's drivers were witnesses of red and yellow balls that were shot towards Iranian fighters.

So far, many books have been published in the field of writing memories and oral history that address the lives and courage of commanders and warriors of the sacred defense. However, there are less works of these unknown fighters of protective units. In the book "D-8", we accompanied by one of these men who describe what he and his comrades experienced in the war, and  he rides us on his bulldozer and  circle in the operational areas of the west and south of the country to see the war from his point of view and from the top of the bulldozer.

This work is the result of an 18-hour conversation with Mohammad Reza Ramezanian, commander of the military engineering of Imam Hussein Division. Ramezanian began to defend the homeland from Kurdistan along with commanders such as the martyrs Haj Hussein Kharrazi, Abdul Razaq Zarean, Hasan Mansouri and other great activists such as Haj Hassan Fatahi. Then, he became commander of military engineering unit of 14^th Imam Hussein Division.

The interviews were conducted in 1393(2014) and 1392(2013). The interviewer is Mahmoud Afghari and the book is written in the method of oral historiography. Here it should be said that the narrative language of narrator has been largely preserved for the better use of the text of interviews. By organizing the content and reducing the unfamiliar conversational words, the textbook has been also tried to be close with the narrator's language and establish a good relationship with the readers.

But, what is the "D8"? it is a Caterpillar D-8,  one of the heavy duty mining and construction machinery that is begun to produce in 1935 and has been changed in engines and gears for many times, according to technical and operational needs. Different models of the D-8 have been named from the beginning with English alphabet from A to T, and its latest publication was T model until 2018. During sacred defense, the D-8 bulldozers (K and H series) were very popular on the fronts of Iran, because they were equipped both a short height and large shovel, and their drivers were somewhat shielded from bullets and bumps. On the other hand, their engines had a power range of 270 to 280 horsepower, which gave a certain ability to their partly small size. These features, with low fuel consumption and easy reparability, have made bulldozers D-8 as one of the best options for making bulwark in the war. (Technical information source - company site of maker)

The book is written by Ali Hashemi who has experience in the field of writing memory and oral history of sacred Defense. Hashemi divided the book into 12 chapters, and each chapter is focused on one or two operations of sacred defense from the narrator's perspective. Hashimi, who has works such as "Bibi Jan[1]" and "Abu Darda[2]", could select the names of operations and related areas for the title of each chapter, but with a little nicety and precision, he chose the titles of chapters of the book based on the life of Mohammad Reza Ramezanian and his spiritual condition in the battlefields. The titles of twelve chapters of the book are as follows: "The Rotation of Time, The Time of Test, The Rise of Abdul Razaq, The Fire of Love, A Passage through Borders, The Martyrdom of Hassan, Just Work, The Wound of Love, The Success of Visiting, The High Grounds, A Work on the Beginning and Documents."

The text of book is compiled in questions and answers, and the complier has answered the ambiguous and questionable points in the footnotes. Footnotes and references are appropriate and reader's questions are answered where they expect.

The book is entered into the life of Ramazanian in a linear and direct way. In the first chapter, the tittle "The Rotation of Time", about the narrator's childhood, and we see that how he as a teenager entered in the field of heavy vehicle repairs. In the second chapter, the "test time" arrives and the younger man" Mohammadreza" went to Kurdistan front But in spite of the inner will, instead of training and taking a gun in hand, he started to work  at the garrison technical unit. But the path of appreciation for him is such that he got on a loader and bulldozer in front of the Iraqis. After moving to the Do Kuheh garrison, Ramezanian is being entered into the engineering unit of Imam 14th Division of Hussein, and it was first time for him in the operations of Jerusalem, where he got on a loader and a bulldozer.

In the chapter "the rise of Abdul Razaq", Ramazan operation and the martyrdom of Abdul Razaq Zarean, friend and commander of Mohammad Reza Ramezanian are narrated to us. In chapter "The Fire of Love," we review the operations of Muharram. In chapter "A Passage through Borders", a list of memories of the preliminary Valfajar operations, Valfajar one, Valfajar two, Valfajar four and Khyber are mentioned.

In the sixth chapter, Hassan Mansouri, commander of the division of engineering unit, is martyred, and in chapter "Martyrdom of Hassan" represents the same point; it is an event that is a sad end for engineering unit forces in operation. The seventh chapter titled "Just Work" narrates the narrator's memoirs on the days between the operations of Khyber and Badr. As the title of this chapter represent, during this period, the forces of engineering unit passed the hard days of training and work in Tehran and Ahvaz, and the practice of making bridge and working with loader and bulldozer in the swampy areas. The practices that ultimately show themselves up in Badr operations. But during the same operation, Mohammad Reza Ramezanian is injured by "wounded in love" and. The injuries and successes to visit Mecca were factors that caused Ramazanian not to be present on the front during the hard days of operation Karbala 5, and entered the war zone in the days after the operation. Here, he heard the news of Haj Hassan Fatahi's injury; and he became responsible for the command of engineering unit of 14th Division of Imam Hussein (AS). A few days later, Haj Hussein Kharrazi were martyred. The narration of "D-8" in the operation Karbala 10, enter the Kurdistan and Baneh's "high grounds" and finally tells us in the final chapter " A work on the Beginning " we read about the days of the imposed war by Saddam Hussein against the Islamic Republic of Iran until the adoption of resolution 598.

The book "D-8 "tell us the memoirs of driver in 238 pages. These are different memories like hot and iron bullets that are the narrations of momentous moments experienced by many bulldozers and loader drivers in direct contact with the enemy's defenses. In the summer of 1397(2018), this book was ordered by Art Center of Esfahan published by Espaneh publication