Tonight Is Ashura
A Jam of Jar - Tonight Is Ashura
It was the nights after Karbala 2 operation that two squadrons were dispatched to cut the Iraqi forces, but were ambushed. T he operation was leaked and a rain of bullets was cast on us. The order came to retreat. But retreat didn’t apply for the boys in Cooperation. Actually, their job had begun because we had to return the wounded and the martyrs. The boys were disappointed and we had very few forces that night. I gathered the combatants. “Tonight, is the night of Ashura. I need f ifty men among the three hundred of you. We’re going just with stretchers, no weapons”, I said. I was crying. I told them we had to return the martyrs and the wounded; we shouldn’t leave them to Iraqis. Mr. Ghasemi stepped forward and yelled, “Ya Ali”. The second guy was a robust Basiji who had tattoo on his hands. “Are you in?”, I asked. “Last night, a shrapnel came towards me, but it hit my donkey. I wish it had hit me”, he said. I liked his attitude. He was just as he should be. Then, others joined and fifty people were ready. I sent back ten and the forty of us went near the mountain peak and gathered in a rifle pit under a big rock. Not everyone could fit in there. It was weird. As I said, the situation was a resemblance of Ashura. “Friends, this is dangerous, it’s dark, and the probability of becoming a martyr is high. Anyone who can’t stay may use the darkness to f lee, and the rest shall not think there’s a return”, I said. Seven or eight people fled. It felt weird. To tell the truth, I felt like I’m alone. I wish I died for Imam Hossein’s innocence that only seventy stayed for .[him out of all those people [in Ashura We moved on. We were almost among Iraqis. We even saw an Iraqi on the way who was singing. He passed by an inch away from us. We got to the aforementioned rock. There were a lot of martyrs and wounded drowning in blood. We started to work quickly in silence. It was a tough job. I got to a wounded who was pretty heavy. I was thinking what to do. Suddenly, our very streetwise arrived. I called him and left the job to him. He wanted to stay and work. I told him to get the heavy wounded guy to the backline, that was essential. “As you say, I’ll follow your orders”, he replied. Not long after, Iraqis detected us and their fire load made the night look like a sunny day. It was impossible to work. The order changed and the new plan was to get the martyrs and the wounded to the road side and only transfer the wounded as much as possible. That night ended anyway. The following day, I was checking the stats of casualties. They gave me the appearance stats of a heavy martyr who had tattoos on his hands. I asked how he was martyred. “He was bringing a heavy wounded f ighter, panting. Then, a mortar-shell made his wish come true”, they said I told myself, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Maybe people are who they should .be 57 .
