A Review of the Book "The Helmsman"

Memoirs of Mohammad Reza Hassani

Fereydon Heydari Mulkmian
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2022-7-12

The cover and back cover of the book is decorated with beautiful and memorable photos of the narrator during his time at the front, which, while being simple and sincere, conveys a shocking whole, the details of which are retold in the text of the memoirs. This is in contrast to the selected text on the back cover, where the narrator merely refers to one of his father's healing skills and moral and human concerns. Index of the book "The Helmsman": Includes introduction, titles of short sections (starting with "vagabondage" and ending with the tittle "Narrator from Rudbar), printed works of the author, and illustrations. Although the photos are black and white, they are of good and acceptable quality. In addition, all twelve photos of the book are included in small dimensions and only on four pages.

        The narrator (Mohammed Reza Hassani) was born in 1968 in Azadshahr (former Shahpasand) from Golestan province, which was previously considered part of Mazandaran province. His father is from Neishabur and his mother is from Esfrain. Before the Islamic revolution, with every change that occurred in the father's job, they used to move often house to house. In 1975, due to unemployment, lack of capital, and the hardships they suffered due to poverty, they were forced to move from Azadshahr to Shahriar around Tehran, like many other impoverished townspeople. Like all strange immigrants who enter a new area and start life anew, they entered this stream and surrendered themselves to fate. But when the years 1977 and 1978 coincided with the revolutionary movement, the unified country had risen against the imperial regime. At this time, the narrator's father also joined the revolutionaries and distributed Imam Khomeini's leaflets that his associates gave him to the people, and it even got to the point where he was fired from the company where he worked. After the revolution, when they settled in Sir Asiyab Mallard, the father was among the active members of the local Basij base.

          Mohammad Reza was ten years old during the revolution. However, in 1980, when the sweat of the struggles during the revolution had not yet dried, with the start of the imposed war, the discussion of defending the borders and going to the front came up. Even though he and one of his classmates were still teenagers, they knew it was their duty to go to the front.

         Despite all this, they were eager to go front; they were no longer paying attention to lessons and homework. They loved the front, and they couldn't get it out of their mind. They no longer had sleep or food. They were looking for a solution to leave. They even thought of manipulating the date of birth on their birth certificates or creating a fake consent form.

         The love of the front had made them restless and confused. They were willing to do any trick just to get themselves to the front. The people of the group used to overtake each other to go to the front and defend the country. They used every trick to find a way to go there.

Mohammad Reza did not show any interest in continuing his studies before, now that the war was no longer an excuse for him, his only thought was to be sent to the front. The teacher's lesson was no longer just a whisper of love but also hurt him. He had to work in a factory. At the same time as work, he had become an active member of workersۥ Basij. Cooperating with the mobilization of the factory and getting weapons had satisfied him to a great extent and reduced the intensity of the excitement of being on the front. He calmed down and was looking for a suitable opportunity to fulfill his wish more logically.

        He used the experience of the old people at the Basij base and learned how to open and close the weapon, as well as the way of guarding. He felt that despite his young age, he can participate in the front and operations.

        At that time, he heard that some people from Basij Factory were going to the southern front to visit the operational areas. The best opportunity had come to go with them and get to know the atmosphere and environment of the front and see what the real situation of the battle with the enemy was like.

        In the second ten-day phase, it was time to send them. They rejected them from under the Qur'an. They splashed water behind them. They boarded buses and moved to the south and the operational areas. Enthusiasm had arisen among the people as if they were going to fight the enemy. They used to send blessings for the health and victory of the warriors of Islam.

         When they arrived and got off the bus, they saw all kinds of people there. They told the fighters not to be tired and kissed each other without knowing each other. Ten days passed like lightning and wind. He was heartbroken that they were nearing the end of the journey. He wished he could stay there and fight without needing to get parental consent. During that short visit, when he saw the sacrifice of the warriors, he became determined more go.

         In February 1984, he was impatience. He was going to go front but because of his age, he was not allowed to go. He decided to smuggle himself to the front even without the permission of his parents and factory managers. Until, when they saw his enthusiasm to go to the Basij base of the factory, they told him: "You can provide services behind the line and you can do service work according to your age and age." You can be sent to the front through the War Support and Jihad Construction Headquarters..."

In this way, a loophole had been opened. The very next day, he reached Tehran and filed a case at the construction jihad headquarters and filled out the relevant forms. When he returned home, he tried as much as possible to get his parents' consent and convince them to sign the consent form.

        Two or three days later, he went to the southern front with an expedition group and introduced himself as a jihadist to the headquarters of Karbala II located in Khoramshahr intersection. Their departure coincided with the arrival of the New Year 1985 and the Badr operation, which was carried out in the general area of Majnoon, Horul Azim, and Horul Howeiza islands. Although in the same year 1985, his mission in Sazangi Jihad ended, his way to the front was opened and this was the beginning of the path that followed the period of visits and subsequent missions. In the second and third stages of the Wal-Fajr operation in Faw, Habib Ibn Mazaher's battalion, which he was also part of, was sent from Kausar position on Ahvaz-Sosangard road to the Shalamche area near a village called Qasr to be ready for defense. During the re-distribution of the forces, this time he was assigned to the Al-Mahdi line-breaking battalion. After that, they were sent to the city of Faw, Iraq, on the Faw-Al-Bihar axis, for coordination between the forces after the organization. In one of these operations, it was shattered in several areas and was moved to the rear of the front. After removing the shrapnel from different parts of his body, he went and rested in his father's house for two months, but despite his father's wish and without his family's knowledge, he got a dispatch card and returned to the operational area. In Dezful, he joined the forces of the Euphrates Marine Unit and participated in amphibious training. From then on, his job was to go back and forth with his boat as a helmsman in the waterways and reeds of Majnoon Island until almost the end of the war to transport troops, ammunition, and rations. There was a flag flying on his boat with the blessed name of Hazrat Abbas written on it. His engine was running so well that he liked to hear its sound. Sometimes he even jokingly told his friends: "The boat sings and chirps to me."

        Years later, when he was supposed to visit the operational areas of the sacred defense period such as Fatah al-Mabin, Shush Daniyal, Arvand, Feke, etc., with a convoy, he was separated from the convoy for a moment. to go alone to see the old place of the Euphrates. He missed those days of purity and uniformity again.

         But now the Euphrates was very different. There was no trace of Hosseiniyeh and the command bunker in it. Everything in the urban context was lost and destroyed. Where once the smell of flowers and reeds and the sultry weather made one feel happy, now it had given its place to a rotten swamp and mud. He was upset about why he left and spoiled the happy memories he had from there.

         No more voices of secret and need and mystical noise of warriors could be heard from Hosseiniyeh. Now there were no more fighters, no divers, and no military boats that once carried twenty-five people instead of ten. The abandoned wild cattle and stray dogs gave a sad look there. Everything was messed up and changed.

        The second edition of the book "The Helmsman" written by Abbas Abid Savji, was published in 2019 by the Foundation for the Preservation of the Works and Publishing of the Sacred Defense Values of Alborz Province and Hanzaleh Publications in 148 pages, and the number of 1000 copies with a normal cover in octave cut for 13000 Toman (Iranian currency). it has been sent to the book stores.