SABAH (45)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Zohreh had fallen on the ground and was crowling in pain. A bit farther Amir Sameri had fallen on the ground. His situation was bad. Stream of blood was jetting from his neck. Maryam Amjad was shocked seeing Amir Sameri and was screaming. She thought that he has been beheaded. Besides him, one of the soldiers called Jafar had been hit by a shrapnel in the waist and was moaning in pain.

SABAH (44)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

He left immediately. We could clearly hear the whizzing sound of bullets hitting our surrounding. From the cracks in the stones, we could see the volume of bullets being shot from Iraqis to our forces. If the stones were not there, we would definitely be shot. We waited there for one hour for Joneshan but there was no sign of him. We were starting to suspect him. Why had he brought us here ...

SABAH (43)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Although he was right but my friends and I wanted to go to the young mans grandmothers house who seemed to be very religious. We said: “poor guy has gone to grab the key. It is not good that he returns and we are not here.” The ranger was not convinced and ordered us: “No! Get in the car to go to my fathers house.” We had no choice. If we insisted more, it was not right.

SABAH (42)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Besides me, Belgheys, Dr. Mostafavi and Dr. Saadat were willing to go to the fronts. Although I had great passion to go to the front, I was worried that the soldiers might see us and get angry and send us back. We had lots of arguments and disagreements regarding staying in the city. Although after the supporting statement of Sheikh Sharif on the twelfth day, nobody said anything to us and nobody questioned our stay in the city.

SABAH (41)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Although I was involved in aid and rescue, I was always careful about the privacy of the injured and even when bandaging or getting a vein, I avoided touching their bodies. While bandaging, the cotton, sterile gauze was between my hand and the body of the injured but while I was injecting, I did my best to have zero contact with the body of the injured. Most of the injured and ...

SABAH (40)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

The eleventh day had started with burial of Ali Hosseini; it was a difficult day. The Iraqi artillery was targeting the surroundings of the mosque constantly. This situation had made the mosque so insecure that rescue had no meaning at all since the lives of those stationed in the mosque was also in danger. Since two three days ago, when the attacks to the surrounding streets started, there was a whisper going ...

SABAH (39)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Zahra broke the news of Alis martyrdom to her uncle early in the morning and brought him to the mosque. Then she asked Hassan, Abdollah Maavi, and me to accompany her uncle to the morgue and claim Alis body. She was worried that the process of looking for a vehicle to take her family to Sarbandar might take long and the authorities at morgue would bury Ali as unknown martyr.

SABAH (38)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

They put the martyrs in the Blazer and the injured in the ambulance. The foot of one of the injured soldiers had been cut from knee down and was hanging by a piece of skin. It was hanging from the ambulance. I was afraid that his foot could be torn in the dark and nobody would notice. I walked closer and grabbed his foot covered in dust and blood with two hands and placed it besides its owner with care.

SABAH (37)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

After the transfer of prisoners from the mosque, the Sepah soldiers paraded in front of the mosque for half an hour using the Iraqi trophy vehicles and tanks. We also thanked them with uttering Takbir. We were sitting in the yard of the mosque with friends and Dr. Saadat and were dividing the medication that we had received from people or those that friends had gathered from stricken drug stores in Fakhre Razi Street.

SABAH (36)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

All other soldiers had the same condition and were in dire need of clothes and shoes. Mostly their trousers were torn in the knees since they had lots of activities and the fabric was worn out. I had even seen soldiers in the fronts wearing slippers. There were some who took them off and walked bare foot! The dire situation of soldiers ached my heart. I had even given my shoes to ...