The 344th Night of Memoir-2

Compiled by: Leila Rostami
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2023-9-30

Note: The 344th night of memoir was held on Thursday, the 23 February of 2023, with the presence of the brave men of the Air Force in the Soura Hall of Arts Center. In this program, General Alireza Rudbari, Second Brigadier General Fereydoun Samadi, General Mohammad Hasan Luqmanejad and captive pilot Brigadier General Mohammad Sediq Qaderi shared their memories. Also, the book "Honest Pilot" was unveiled in the presence of Mohammad Hasan Abu Tarabifard. Davood Salehi was in charge of this night of memoir.

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The second narrator of the 344th night of memoir was pilot Brigadier Fereydoun Samadi. Due to his interest in medicine, he became a student of natural sciences [at a university]. One day, he found a plane dropping military call-up notices; it changed his life. He changed his academic field to mathematics in order to become a pilot. He entered the Air Force in 1961 and became a pilot in 1966. He was among the first people to take a pilot course, who later became a first-class pilot. He is also one of the first people to fly a supersonic plane. At the beginning of the imposed war [against Iran], he was the deputy commander of the Bushehr base and the operation officer of the joint base.

After paying tribute to the martyrs and veterans of the holy defense and their families, the narrator said at the beginning of his speech: I don't remember seeing Mohammad Sediq Qaderi when I went to the 31st joint base in Hamadan. It was there that I realized that he was a restless person who talked like a brave man and usually bustle in the barracks. Whenever I called him to come, he knew what to do.

He further added: I read Mohammad Sediq Qadrei's book twice, I cried three times. I recommend that you read this book and see what hardships and discomforts your countryman suffered and lived in order for Iran to be remained. We did not go out of the house during the two years of corona disease and complained about it. Sometimes we were upset and complained to our God; they stood and resisted for 9 and 10 years in the worst and most difficult conditions for our pride and for us to have a prosperous Iran.

The narrator continued: I need to mention the wives of these dear captives because of the sacrifice and selflessness of the martyrs' wives, these captives and veterans, is really praiseworthy. I witnessed closely what they did; they gave their brave man to the society that no one would believe how important they were. As an example, the wife of one of these martyred pilots helped her child to get doctorate degree.

Continuing the memoirs, Samadi said: When I was the commander of the battalion in which Mohammad Sediq Qaderi was present, I managed vacations at the very first of the year and told anyone who wanted to go on vacation should tell me so that I could arrange it. Mr. Sediq Qaderi said to me: Can I save my vacations and go on vacation at the same time? I said: What do you want to do? He said: I want to get married.

After some time, it was supposed to have operational inspection and we were not allowed to give anyone leave during this time. It was ORI or inspection time and the inspectors had arrived. Mr. Sediq Qadri came and said: Now I want to use my leave and I have to go. I said: I can't, you know I can't give you time off at this time. I am responsible and must answer. He said: I need it. I said: you shouldn’t go. He said: I need it, I should go on vacation. I said: You are not allowed.

He prepared a report and left it on my desk and left. I also said to the porter at the door: Sir! Whenever Sadiq wants to go out, let me know! By the way, they called and said that Mr. Sediq Qaderi went out of the door by a Trans Am car. I had a can named Camaro at that time, I took it and followed it. I got him. I said: Mr. Sediq Qaderi, where are you going? He said: I am going to get married. I said: Come back. He said: No, I should go. I said: Well, go! Just then, an officer with the rank of captain came and saw that I was wearing a flight uniform, he respected me and said: What happened? I said: nothing. I returned to the base. Things were done and I didn't say anything. Sadiq Qadri got married happily and returned after ten to fifteen days. I didn't complained him, I hadn't even reported, I said: OK, this vacation is also your wedding gift.