The 346th Night of Memoir– 5

Compiled by: Leila Rostami
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2024-2-2

Note: The 346th Night of Memoir was held by the presence of the Ehya (revival) Group and members of the Holy Defense Combat Medical Institute in the Surah Hall of the Islamic Revolution Art Center on Thursday of the May 25, 2023. The narrators of this program were Sardar Ali Asghar Molla, Dr. Abdullah Saadat, Dr. Ahmed Ebadi and Dawood Khanazer. They reminisced about the Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas (Jerusalem) and the liberation of Khorramshahr, focusing on the treatment of the wounded with minimal casualties. Dawood Salehi was in charge of this program.

***

The fourth narrator of the Night of Memoir was Dawood Khanezar, born in 1960 in Farahan, Arak province, who entered the war as the first medical officer of the Najaf Ashraf Brigade in December 1972.

At the beginning of his speech, narrator said: According to the orders of the commanders that day, I became the medical officer of the Najaf Ashraf brigade in the Beit-ol-Moqaddas Operation that led to the conquest of Khorramshahr. The IRGC units took the organizational form of a brigade and a division after the Fatah al-Mobin operation. But the health organization started to work practically in the units from Beit-ol-Moqaddas operation. I was not more than 20 years old when I joined the Najaf Ashraf Brigade and was the only one responsible for its health. I didn't have any experience in rotating the medical unit and organization.

My commander, martyr Ahmed Kazemi, was born in 1938 and we were exactly the same age. He was in charge of commanding the 16th army battalion in the Beit-ol-Moqaddas operation. The Iraqis had built an embankment on the Khorramshahr road in Ahvaz. On the first night, we reached this road, where the enemy had infiltrated on our right side, and the next night, our forces went to the side with the help of the neighbor unit and reached the line. Friends have been in the war and know that the commanders close to the operation do not have sleep or food. I take God as my witness that martyr Ahmad Kazemi did not rest for even an hour two nights. We had an emergency near Karon. According to the order, the next day of the operation, we took the emergency, which was the Red Crescent tents, seven or eight kilometers further and set up. The Red Crescent tents were big and in the form of a tent and 34 meters long. This emergency was zero in terms of security. Maybe it was something higher, like Sable.

The doctors who came were volunteer doctors. We had three doctors; we put Dr. Tahmasabi in charge of emergency. He is a great doctor who is a specialist and is still serving in this country. I myself had to organize, support and support the relief forces and medical forces to go with the battalions. On the second day of the operation, around 10:11 a.m., a car entered the emergency area with its lights on and honking. General Seifullah, one of the children of Najafabad, Isfahan, who was the commander or intelligence officer of the Army operations that day, called me and said: "This wounded person in this car is the brigade commander, be careful!" If possible, don't take them to the emergency room." It was not good for the wounded and the troops to find out that the commander of the brigade or division was injured. Next to the general emergency room, we had placed a tent with four examination beds in addition to resuscitation and electroshock devices. In today's terms, a very small ICU. The injured man was still talking. If you look carefully at the photos of martyr Kazemi, there is still a black mark on his face. A shrapnel about the size of a palm had hit him in the face and torn it open. He was bleeding so heavily that he was covered with a gauze bandage.

When we put him on the bed, he said to me in the tone of Najafabadi: "Dawood!" And the first sentence he said to me was: "Don't send me to the backs." I said: "Okay, but I don't give orders, doctors give orders." Since I was not a doctor, I called Dr. Tahmasabi, who was in charge of the emergency department, and said: "Mr. Doctor! He is the brigade commander. Please make sure it doesn't get too crowded." Mr. Doctor and two of his other colleagues and a surgical resident unanimously said that he should be sent to Ahvaz and nothing can be done here. The impact was very severe and may be a concussion. It may happen in ten minutes and we don't have radiology equipment and facilities here. Insisting on doctors and denying them.

The friends who were with him were the information officers of the operation. They said no, it is not possible. We do not have power on the line. If he leaves, what should we do with the troops?! Finally, I convinced the doctors, if possible, to take care of it right there and do the treatment. The doctor said, "Stitch work can't be done because the burn is too severe." Finally, they did a little debridement[1] they collected the places that were much burnt. They were taking care of them in the same busyness that they had. As I told him, he hadn't really slept for two consecutive nights. He either fainted or fell asleep in about a quarter of twenty minutes. I can't really judge that moment; but it was abnormal. The doctors again insisted that he be sent back. I said: "No sir, it's not possible, I said I won't go back. “After twenty minutes to half an hour we waited on top of him, he regained consciousness. After he regained consciousness, he cried so much that his face was completely wet. He was in a convulsive state and the doctors said that he should be surely sent. After that crying state, he found a bit of peace. He used to laugh, That is, we did not see Ahmad Kazemi frowning at anyone in the most difficult situations. Ahmad Kazemi was an example of the noble verse of Quran “They are stubborn and fierce against the infidels, and they are kind among themselves".

It passed and I separated from them after the Beit-ol-Moqaddas operation. But our good company remained. I used to go and visit him many times. Friends who were fighters know that Ahmad Kazemi and Mehdi Bakri were one soul in two bodies. That is, during the operation, wherever you found Ahmed Kazemi's camp, his side unit, brigade, or army would surely be martyr Mehdi Bakri. After the Badr operation, on a winter night, I went to the Martyr Madani camp, which was the headquarters of the Najaf Ashraf Brigade, which had already become an army at that time. He invited us to the command room after Maghrib and Isha prayers. I insisted a lot and swore to him that what was the reason for all that crying?! God is witness, after the Maghrib and Isha prayers until the morning call to prayer, maybe for six or seven hours, he only shed tears and cried in the empty space of Mehdi Bakri, why I stayed alive!

He said: "Dawood! You owe it to me to mention this memory somewhere while I'm alive, and he swore to me that you have no right to mention it anywhere until the day I become a martyr." And this is the first time I say this trust in this group. Only once after his martyrdom and according to the request of General Fathian, I wrote this and gave it to the commander of the army. Martyr Ahmad Kazemi said: I was very sad when I was lying on the bed while my face was wounded and my wound was burning. Ten or twelve battalions of the children of the people, of whom I was somehow the commander and had to protect their lives, are on the line. Now I'm out of line and I fell on the bed. In this situation where I was very upset and crying, the curtain of the tent was removed and a light appeared. I could not see this person's face, but his voice was the voice of the lady who told me Ahmad Chete?! I emphasize again that the face of this lady was not visible, but this honorable woman was saying Ahmed Chete in the same tone?! I said the lady, I'm fine, and I’m worried about people's children who are waiting for me. After all, I have to command and organize. He said you are nothing, stand up. Just like that, he pointed at me and said get up, you are nothing. There I found peace and woke up.

In the continuation of his speech, the narrator mentioned a memory of Martyr Borujerdi and said: He was our commander during the events of Kurdistan. After I came to Tehran, I was transferred to the medical center of the IRGC headquarters. One day I went to get my salary. At that time, I received a salary of 2600 or 2700 tomans. Martyr Boroujerdi, who was the commander of the western part of the country, came to get his salary. In the garrison of Vali Asr (PBUH) they called him Red Beard. He was always laughing, the laughter is still evident in his photos. I said to the official who was paying: God bless you! They say that the country is without a king! (Laughing) The commander of a camp has less salary than me!" And really he got 200 tomans less than me. The brother who was in charge of finance told me where did you see him?! It does not take away all rights! He takes half of his salary and gives it to Mr. Modaresi, the grandson of Martyr Modares, who is responsible for the welfare or cooperation of the IRGC. Later, I asked Mr. Madrasi, he said: So-and-so! Every time Borujerdi gets paid, he brings half of his salary and pours it into this fund for those who have financial problems without getting a receipt. All commanders and loved ones who were martyred, their right and their reward was nothing other than martyrdom.