Memoirs of Ali Fadaei

Machine Translation Edited by Mandana Karimi

2026-9-23

Ali Fadaei, a fighter from the years of the Holy Defense, was a guest on the 289^th Shab-e Khatereh (Night of Memories) program (March 2017). He reminisced about the people's gifts to the front line. Fadaei said: "We had been at the front for about 20 days and had just settled in. We were playing soccer at 9 am. Suddenly, we saw that the base was deserted. We looked and saw that the guys had gathered in front of the supply room. We also went. We saw that they were lined up to receive the people's gifts. Usually, they were delivered to the fighters in the same packages that the people sent. I was the last person in the line and standing behind Hassan Aslani. I told Hassan that I was tired, I will sit down, whenever it was my turn, call me. I sat in a corner and fell asleep. I woke up to Hassan's voice and took my gift. Hassan went and I opened it. In it was a navy blue jumpsuit. I could tell from its collar that it had been used before; I said to myself, "May God bless them." I opened it and was about to put it on when I saw a piece of paper fall out. The paper was the size of a palm and had been drawn around it with colored pencils. From the handwriting on the paper, it was clear that a second or third grade student had written it. On that paper it was written: “Hello, brother fighter, when you are martyred, please tell my father to come to my dream, I miss him so much, Hamid Reza Abbasi, son of martyr Karam Ali Abbasi.” This writing really moved me. My mood changed. I had taken on the appearance of the martyrs. I read this letter many times during the day. Hassan became curious. He asked: What is this that you keep taking out of your pocket and reading? I said: I am about to be gone; I got the martyrdom card. He asked: What happened? I said: I have received an invitation and I showed the paper to Hassan. Hassan cried when he saw the paper. I asked him why he was crying? I insisted and he just cried. He didn’t say anything. A few days later, the Qaem al-Mohammad (A.S.) operation was underway. When we returned from the operation, we saw that Hassan’s body had been brought. Hassan had been martyred. That night, it was Friday night. They held a prayer ceremony for Kumail. Hamid Bidram, who was one of the logistics guys, spoke about Hassan’s spirit and generosity. He said: Hassan was a man of purpose. He also turned to me and said: Did you know that gift he gave you was for Hassan? You were the last one and nothing was left for you. At that time, when Hassan saw the gift, he realized that he had to take the message himself.

We children of Shahinshahr were very mischievous and playful in the war zone. We would do things on the spur of the moment. We would use meaningless and stupid words and talk to each other. Behrouz Davoudi and I understood each other's meaning very well by using these incomprehensible words. They had prepared a mock-up of the operation and we were waiting for Haj Esmail Sadeghi, the battalion commander, and Mohammad Reza Touraji to come and explain the mock-up. They were busy coordinating and were a little late. Out of mischief and joking, with the instigation of Behrouz Davoudi and Mohammad Bolouri, I started explaining the mock-up and we made a joke. I took Haj Esmail’s expression with a frown; with a cough and an uptight look. The guys recognized this expression. With the same incomprehensible gestures and words, I began to explain the mock-up. The guys were laughing so hard that I suddenly felt they had become a little serious. I realized that someone had entered, I did not turn back and went forward to leave. Suddenly a voice said: “Continue!” I realized that it was Haj Esmail’s voice. I said: “Excuse me!” He said: “Sir, continue!” I continued with the same expression and words and he laughed. This caused Haj Esmail to laugh instead of frowning whenever he saw me.”

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So far, 382 programs have been held to commemorate the Holy Defense by Resistance Literature and Culture and Studies Center. The next program will be held on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

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