SABAH (57)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

We went in. The house had a small hall and two bedrooms. In one of the rooms, there was a wall closet with two doors. Mr. Hashemi went towards the closet and opened it. In all shelves of the closet, a number of documents related to house, property and shop was lying. He said: “What a place! The owner has been rich. All these documents belong to one person!” I felt curious. I walked closer and took one of the documents.

SABAH (56)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Our aid team was lost. We had no update on Dr. Saadat for the past few days. I thought that he has gone out of Khorramshahr with aid team but this was not the case and we had no news about his whereabouts. We were all spiritually down. As long as we were in Khorramshahr, all our activities and tasks were focused. Every minute of our time was spent with the aim of aiding the injured and preserving the city, but now what?!

SABAH (55)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

In the afternoon, Shahnaz and I went to Taleghani hospital to visit our father but the nurses informed us that he has been transferred to Opidey hospital. We went there. We saw Reza Alboughabish in the hospital. He was one of those fighters who commuted to mosque from the first days of the war. Ever since Sheikh Sharif had come to Khorramshahr, Reza was his driver and full-time companion. He was a known face among the Khorramshahr team members.

SABAH (54)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

I was very worried on our way to the hospital. I was worried for the child. He had lots of shrapnel and I did not know which one of them has created deep wounds and which one has resulted to light wounds. Mosadegh was driving with one hand and was holding the child with the other hand tightly. If he moved his hand away from the child, he would fall out of the vehicle in one of the bumps or swirling movements of the car.

SABAH (53)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Mousavi did not utter a word. He only blinked four five times rapidly. His face color turned bluish, his head tilted to the right and fell. I looked at his whole body. There was no sign of bullet or shrapnel. There was no hole or rapture in his clothes. Dr. Saadat told the pick-up driver: “The situation of the injured patients is very bad. You have to take them to the hospital. We cannot do anything for them here.”

SABAH (52)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

I heard from injured that Sheikh Sharif has compiled a number of defense forces and is resisting around the customs. We became hopeful hearing this news besides the news from Major Sharif Nasab and commandoes’ resistance. In Abouzar team, there was a young boy called Mostafa who had green eyes. He was from Khorramshahr and hardly sixteen seventeen years old and his beard had not grown yet. I had seen him several ...

SABAH (51)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

We had a rough night full of stress and anxiety. We heard from the injured that customs area and Taleghani district have been sieged completely and is under the control of Iraqis. I decided to check on Fouziyeh and Shahnaz. Despite the chaotic situation of the city, I went to the kitchen with caution. Their situation was the same as ours. Their location was even more insecure than any other. Ghazi Zadeh sisters, ...

SABAH (50)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Finally, the sun dawned on the morning of twenty first day of first month of autumn. The Iraqis had stricken the city constantly since last night; without having even one-hour rest. We were in the office that the constant horning of a car at the entrance caught our attention. Usually when a driver brought an injured in critical situation, he horned like that to inform us. In five seconds, I reached the entrance of the office, standing in front of the Jeep that had injured on board.

SABAH (49)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

First, Mousavi and I went to visit Amir Sameri and the rest of the brothers. They were very happy to see us and our visit lifted their spirits. Then we went to see Zohreh and Zahra. Each were hospitalized in one room. First we went to Zohreh. She had bent on the bed full of sorrow and was staring directly. As I walked in, Zohreh noticed me. I went beside her bed.

SABAH (48)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Right at that moment, an ambulance arrived. The driver got off quickly. He was a big and relatively fat man. As he got off the car, another RPG bullet hit the ground five six meters away from us and one of the army forces collapsed. After the dust and soil and fire died down, the driver of the ambulance went towards the injured. I followed him. We had not yet reached the ...