Interview with Mehr Ali Ebrahim Nejad

I Was Just a Private (3)

Somayeh Eslami
Translated by: Abbass Haji Hashemi

2016-1-4

Elsami: What happened next?

Then the second phase of the operation, known as the Saddam Reveille, started. There was this place known as the Saddam Reveille which was targeted by Operation Muharram.

Eslami: How long did you stay there?

Just one day.

Eslami: Did they send you back again?

No. At that time the second phase of the operation was being carried out and I was not a part of it. The operation was a success for Iranian forces and the enemy had to retreat because it found itself besieged by our forces.

Eslami: Did you see that place by yourself?

No, we just crossed that area. We were privates and were not allowed to go see places. Later on, our commander instructed me to pick up an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) which I declines first but had to accept after a short debate.

Eslami: Did you know how to operate an RPG?

Yes. I had already been serving for a long time in the war fronts. At that time, I had taken part in 4 major operations and it was my 6^th or 7^th time in the fronts. I took the RPG and started a long journey. I passed from the Saddam Reveille site and crossed a long desert before arriving at a number groves in land where we could shelter. We had to move silently so the enemy would not here us. It was such a difficult moment for us.

Eslami: Was that a night or day?

Night. I never forget how I said my prayers at that night. We spent the rest of the night jogging stressfully because we were worried the enemy might be waiting in ambush over the hills. What was more frightening for us was that we didn’t know where we were going. No one could tell if we would reach the enemy within the next 4 hours or not. Anyway, in order to use the darkness in our favor, we climbed this hill through this grove so the enemy would not cite us over the hill. Just being in the grove made everything darker for us. We had no idea what we stepped on, we just kept running. If the person stepping ahead of us happened to stop suddenly the next person would easily collide with him and the sound of the metal helmets would cause an uproar in that silent night. That night was the worst for us. We couldn’t see anything or anywhere. What worried us more than anything was leaving someone behind. We later reached a place where we saw nothing and could only hear the person ahead would jump down from a cliff.

Eslami: Did you follow their example?

Yes, I did so. I had to. When we saw that the person ahead jumped we would jump as well. Now consider someone with an iron helmet, a big backpack and an RPG in his hands falling off from a height. Just after falling on the ground, you have to suffer so much pain because of falling… and you know that you must move on because the next person will just fall on your head. This was awful. This is how we kept moving. We moved on an on until we all lost hope and made sure that we were lost. One of the shortcomings of our commanders were that they never told their forces how long an operation would take or how long they had to walk for reaching a designated point. After the groves, we entered a sand road. We suddenly heard the enemy start firing from a nearby grove.

Eslami: Were you in the road already?

We had already walked past the road and only after we went to the other side, the enemy started firing. There, one of the comrades told me to shoot and so did I and, fortunately enough, their trench was set in fire by my first shot. I didn’t see the comrade anymore. Later on, we no longer stayed with that division and joined another one whose commander was a guy from the northern city of Gonbad whom I never knew who he was. He knew absolutely nothing and took us to nowhere. After I saw that he was unable to lead the group of us, I decided to become our leader to help him. We went so far as we reached the Iraqi arsenal. I tried to call some of the guys who might be able to tell us where to go but got no response. After a while a connection was made, with whom, I never understood, in which I said: Mr. Sadiq, we have reached a hill and only 50 meters away from the enemy arsenal." I said this but I didn’t know who I was sending the message to. A short while later I saw the enemy gathering up their stuff and retreating. The fact was that we were being bugged by the enemy. They could hear our conversations because when I gave my fellow comrade to send us a signal by for example shooting an enlightened shot in the air, we got several shots from different locations at the same time. This was very distressing for us having a dysfunctional commander who was unable to lead us anywhere and only kept weeping all along the way.

Eslami: Did you involved in any scuffles at this time?

Yes. Such a nasty one. We killed all of them without incurring any casualties. We could not afford to give casualties at all. It was all possible by the help of the Lord.

Eslami: Did you have any idea where you were?

Not at all. We just kept moving forward. We made everything we could to send signals to fellow fighters with no success. We removed any Iraqi that came on our way and kept moving forward nonstop.

Eslami: Did you capture any Iraqis?

No, we couldn’t afford taking anyone extra with us. We were not even able to take our injured comrades with us. We had been walking all day and night long. Finally, we could join others by the next morning. Later on, all-out fights began with the enemy forces.

To be continued...

I Was Just a Private (1)

I Was Just a Private (2)