The memoirs of Haj Hossein Yekta reached the 11th step.

The book “Red Squares” by “Zainab Erfanian” narrates the childhood playfulness of Imam Khomeini’s soldiers until the days of relief work, reconnaissance, and tasting the bitter taste of the ceasefire.

“Red Squares” is full of bittersweet and sometimes bitter memories of teenagers who became men overnight in the school of Imam Khomeini (RA). They grew up amidst the roar of tanks and the whistle of bullets.

Those who now bear the traces of middle-aged dust on their hair and still stand tall beside the revolution in some corner or trench; and those whose feet opened to the sky and reached the divine meeting.

The same ones about whom the Imam said: “From afar, I kiss your powerful arm on which the hand of God rests, and I take pride in this kiss.” (Sahifeh Imam, Vol. 16, p. 143)

Excerpt from the book: I don’t remember whether it was Eid al-Ghadir or a few days later when Agha Mehdi came to the headquarters. His presence was like a holiday gift for us in that Eid. No one dared to breathe. We were sitting in lines on the cool ground. Agha Mehdi was speaking, and the lump in our throats was choking us. High mountains surrounded us. The wind made its way through the children’s ranks over the dam’s water, giving us goosebumps.

The Zaid outpost operation had been canceled. Agha Mehdi had his head down and explained to us. How thirsty we were for fire! With this news, the children were pinned to the ground. The mountains around us turned to sorrow and sat on our hearts. Agha Mehdi’s condition was no better than ours:

“The path to martyrdom is still open. If not this operation, the next one.”

He tried to comfort us. I saw several people in the ranks wiping their tears with their shoulders. We hadn’t even imagined the operation being canceled. Agha Mehdi still had hope. He didn’t want us to empty the division.

“Keeping the battalion’s forces together is an advantage for the division, especially trained and operationally ready forces like us. If we left, it wouldn’t be easy to gather us again.”

Agha Mehdi asked the children to return quickly if they went on leave. We also prayed to God. Where could we find better than this soil? Everything of the world was left behind these mountains; its glitz, its pleasures and hardships, and its people. Here it was just us, the sky, and the paths to ascend to it.

When Zainuddin’s speech ended, the children swarmed around him. They put the commander on their shoulders. He was stuck in the crowd among the children. We wanted Agha Mehdi to be assured that the division wouldn’t be left empty.

Everyone who could reach him kissed Agha Mehdi’s head and face. I couldn’t bring myself to go forward. I watched Agha Mehdi and the crowd surrounding him from afar. How much affection was waving in that commotion…

The 11th edition of the book “Red Squares”, the oral memoirs of Hossein Yekta in 14 chapters and 543 pages with a cover price of 55,000 Tomans by Zainab Erfanian, has been published by Shahid Kazemi Publications.

Those interested in purchasing the book can obtain it with free delivery either through the Man Va Ketab website (manvaketab.ir) or by sending the book’s name to SMS number 3000141441.