SABAH (77)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

On the first day of first month of winter, we were in the hospital when my mother called. She went to telecommunication office of Sarbandar once in a while and called the hospital to know our whereabouts. Although we did not want to make her worry but we had to ask her about Ali. We thought he might have gone to visit them instead of coming to Abadan. My mother said that ...

SABAH (76)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Zolfaghari front and the margin of Bahman Shir had been stabilized and the war in Dairy front had been suspended somehow. When a front was suspended and there was no movement or special conflict, there were less injured. It was not good for us as women to stay there and there was no explanation for our stay. Therefore I did not feel like returning there. From the other side Iraq was bombarding Abadan. Oil refinery, hospitals, markets, mosques, ...

SABAH (75)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Ebika company was between Sarbandar and Mahshahr, right after the camp B station. As Saleheh said Ebika was a company for foreigners that army took charge after revolution and start of war. I asked Saleheh to take me to the company to visit her friends. I knew some of her friends prior to the war. Robab and Sakineh Hoursi, Fatemeh Deyhim, Banouyi, Kobra Aref Zadeh and Fatemeh and Narges Bandari were those individuals I knew. Saleheh accepted.

SABAH (74)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Then Ali took us to Sarbandar at aunt Maryams place and returned to the front without hesitation. I heard from Nahid, auntie Maryams daughter, that there are a few rooms at the mosque allocated to war-stricken families. I went to the mosque and told them about our problem. I said that my husband is injured and cannot move. They gave us the room. Then uncle Hossein brought the children from Boroujerd to Sarbandar.”

SABAH (73)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

We said goodbye to Ghasem Farrokhi and Dr. Saadat and got into the helicopter. It was a small one. There were two rows of seats in it and in the best way, only ten people could sit in it. Before taking off, the co-pilot greeted us and said that we might have nausea during the flight which is natural for a person who gets into the helicopter for the first time.

SABAH (72)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

It was the second week of third month of autumn. More than one month had passed since Elaheh had come to Abadan. One day she said that she wants to go to Sarbandar to visit her family. I told her: “Elaheh! If you go, you might not be able to return and would have to stay.” She said: “No problem. It has been a long time that I haven’t heard from them.

SABAH (71)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

The next day, Ashraf, Elaheh and I went to Zolfaghari. The fighters who were there said that Iraqis had attached a few times since morning and most probably, the attacks will increase every hour. If this was the case, then there was probability that we would have lots of injured and high need of aid. Therefore, we decided to stay in our trench and not return to base. We had just said ...

SABAH (70)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Hover craft turned with more speed towards port. As minutes passed, the volume and small of the smog increased. When we reached the port, the hover craft did not land on the soil and stood in the water near the waterfront. The crew threw a few big pallets on the water and formed a path towards the waterfront. Then they guided the passenger quickly towards out. The pallets trembled under our feet and the water reached our knees and made us wet.

SABAH (69)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

I had nothing else to say. We went to their place. As we entered, Da and Leila stood up and welcomed us. After greeting and kissing, the first thing Da said was: “Sabbah, do you have any news about Ali? Haven’t you seen him recently?” Leila and my eyes knotted together. She was afraid that I might say something. I said: “Ali is ok. He is with the others.” Da said with her Kurdish and Arabic accent: ...

SABAH (68)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

When the hover craft engine started, there was a lot of noise and dust in the air. It got into the air and then landed on the water of Persian Gulf. After a few minutes, I told one of the military forces who was also the crew and was sitting near us: “brother, can we go out?” I want to see the Persian Gulf close by.” The hover craft crew accepted. He opened the door for me.