the Anniversary of Major General Pilot Abbas Babaei

Navideshahed: Abbas Babaei was a great man who was raised in the school of martyrdom. He was a fighter whose piety and worshipping was like a roaring sea and each moment of his life consisted of many waves.

He was a religious man that the whole life of him included generosity and greatness. He was a war veteran of the battlefields and he was a person who would fight against his own spirit of lasciviousness. Since the time that he got familiar with himself, he struggled so much in order to take steps for the satisfaction of God. In fact he was an unknown person, but familiar for everyone. He was a very simple rural man who became a very strong and brave pilot.

According to the Epic Culture Service of the Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA), Abbas Babaei was born in 1950 in Qazvin city. He accomplished his elementary and high school in the same city and in 1969, he entered the pilotage college of the Air Force and after passing the initial courses, he went to the United States of America in order to complete his education.

Babaei went to the United States of America in 1970 in order to pass his pilotage courses. According to the rules of the college, he needed to live with an American roommate for two months. The Americans would consider this work as a development for the English language of the students, but the reality was something else. Since Abbas would do all the religious affairs in all the situations, he hated the messy situation of the United States of America in the field of veil and chastity. His roommate via a report regarding the features and morale of Abbas has written that it is emphasized that Babaei is an isolated person in the behaviors and he is indifferent towards the traditions and the social norms. From his behavior it can be found out that he does not like the western culture and he is intensively committed to the traditional culture of Iran.

Also he has pointed out to this issue that he goes to a corner and he talks with himself, which he meant Abbas would worship and perform his prayer.

He himself has described the story of graduation from the pilotage college of the United States of America as follows: "Our pilotage courses had been completed in the United States of America, but according to the reports which had been written in my service case, my destiny was not clear and they would not issue a certificate for me, eventually someday I was summoned to the office of the college authority who was an American general. I went to his room and I respected him. He asked me to sit down. My case was in front of him on the table. The general was the final person who could accept or reject me and he would offer his declaration in this field.

He asked some questions and I replied his questions. From the questions of the general it could be found out that he did not have a good comment about me. This meeting had a direct relationship with my reputation and dignity, because I was feeling that the pains that I had tolerated for two years due to being away from my family and the happiness plans that I had for my future in my heart was just being wiped put just in a moment and that I needed to return to Iran without getting the certificate of pilotage. I was thinking about this issue that suddenly the door of the room was opened and someone asked permission to step in. He stepped in and in addition of respecting, he asked the general to get out of the room in order to do a very significant work. When the general left the room, I stayed in the room for a moment in loneliness.

I looked at my watch, it was the noon time. I was wished I was not there, because if I was not there, I could perform my prayer. I waited so much until the general to come there. I said that nothing is more important than performing prayer. I perform my prayer in the same place. God willing, he won’t come here until my prayer to be finished. I went to a corner of the room and I put a newspaper that I had in my hand on the ground and I started performing my prayer. I was performing my prayer that I noticed the general opened the door and he stepped in. I thought about this issue that what should I do? I should continue the prayer or break the prayer? Eventually I decided to continue my prayer, so that whatever God wants will happen for me.

Finally I completed my prayer and when I wanted to sit on the chair, I apologized to the general; the general kept quiet for a few moments and he looked at me meaningfully and he said: "What were you doing?”?

I said: I was worshipping God
He said: can you explain it more?

I said: In our religion, the demand is that we should perform prayer at some exact times of the day and night and we need to worship God. Therefore when I was in your office, it was the prayer time, since you were not in the room, so I started performing the prayer and I did my religious duty.

The general nodded when I described it and he said: All the things which have been mentioned in your case seem to be for some work like this, isn’t this like this?

I responded: Yes, that is right.

He smiled: from his outlook it could be understood that he had liked my commitment to my tradition, culture and that I have not been changed in the United States of America at all.

He cheerfully took out his pen and he signed my case. After that he got up respectfully and he stretched his hand and he said: "I congratulate to you. You have been accepted. I hope success for you in the future.”?

I also thanked him mutually too. I respected him and I left the room. On that day I performed prayer at the first place that had a good privacy in order to thank God to the great blessing that he had granted me.

When the modern aircrafts F-14 were brought for the Air Force, martyr Babaei was among the intelligent and skillful pilots who would fly with F-5 aircrafts. Therefore he and some other pilots were chosen to fly with the F-14 aircrafts and he was transferred to the Esfhan Air Base.

When the conflicts against the Shah’s regime reached its climax, Babaei as one of the revolutionary personnel of the Air Force went to the battle of fighting against the regime along with the other committed individuals of the Army. After the victory of Islamic Revolution, in addition of doing some daily duties, he acted as the supervisor of the Islamic Committee of the Air Base and he protected and guarded the magnificent findings of the Islamic Revolution.

Since Babaei had commitment, belief, skills and Islamic management, he became a brilliant man and a great commander of the 8th Air Base in 1981.

At the time that he was the commander of the Air Base by using the available facilities, he started constructing and developing the poor villages located closed to the headquarters of Esfahan city. He also provided drinking water, electricity supply and other health and education requirements for the villages and in addition of supporting the development and construction of the villages through the line of Islamic Revolution, he struggled so much to localize the Armies and to create a very strong connection between the Army and people. So by this work he did many great services for the Army.

Since Babaei was so capable and showed a good sufficiency and commitment of himself during his services in Esfahan Air Base, he was appointed for the ranking of colonel in April 1983. He became the Deputy of the Air Force and he was transferred to Tehran city.

Since he had the morale of martyrdom seeking and sacrifice seeking during the years of the Iran-Iraq war, he created many modern and golden pages for the history of the Sacred Defense Era and for the Air Force of the Army. Also by flying for more than 3000 hours with different aircrafts, he spent most of his times in the flying operations or in the air bases and the battlefields of west and south Iran. That is why he became a familiar face for the Basijis and he was a loyal follower of the operation commanders of the headquarters and only until 1985 (his martyrdom time), he successfully launched 60 military operations.

For the quick development of the operations and for the accuracy of the work and missions, he would not only suffice to supervising, but also he personally would be a pioneer and he would take part in the military missions and operations which had been designed against the enemy. Also for the purpose of getting knowledge about the risks and probable dangers, he would be the first pilot who would fly to the places.

Major General Babaei due to his merit and competency and braveness that he did in defending the system, suppression and defense against the violations of the enemy, he was appointed as the brigadier general in April 1987.

General Babaei the operation deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army at the time of return from an overseas mission was targeted by the anti-aircrafts and he was martyred.

General Abbas Babaei in the morning of August 5, the Ghorban Feast had gone to the war zones along with some other pilots to detect the war zones in order to determine a strategy for the future operations, he flew with an F-5 aircraft from Tabriz Air Base and he entered the sky of Iraq. After doing his mission, at the time of return in the sky of border lines, he was targeted by the anti-air defense of the enemy and his head had been badly injured, therefore he was martyred within a few minutes.

One of the narrators of the War Research and Studies Center regarding this event has written: "Following the shooting to the air craft of general Babaei, since some disorders had been created in the function system of the aircraft and the Air Base of Tabriz city, the abovementioned air base announced to the Air Base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that one of the Iranian aircrafts has crashed in the war zone, so they should struggle to find the remains of the aircraft and the corpse of the martyr. Within a short time from this announcement, the abovementioned person contacted again and as he was crying in tears said: "The aircraft landed on the ground; but one of the pilots has been martyred due to a bullet has hit his head.”?

The narrator regarding the reflex of martyrdom news of general Babaei among the forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said: "Some of the senior commanders of the Corps were verifying some of the operations in a meeting and they were informed about the martyrdom news of General Babaei through a phone call. The news was told to Major General Rahim Safavi. When this news was heard, the meeting was cancelled and all the attendees of the meeting cried in tears, especially those who knew Abbas Babaei so well.”?

It is narrated that a few days before the martyrdom in response to the persistency of his friends for going to the Mecca in order to visit the house of God, he had said: "I will come there until Ghorban feast.”?

Babaei was 37 years old at the time of martyrdom. He was a manifestation who performed many sacrifices from his childhood until the final moments of his lifetime and eventually he reached his ambition that was martyrdom on Ghorban Feast. As a result his popular name became everlasting in the great history of Iran.

The End

He was a religious man that the whole life of him included generosity and greatness. He was a war veteran of the battlefields and he was a person who would fight against his own spirit of lasciviousness. Since the time that he got familiar with himself, he struggled so much in order to take steps for the satisfaction of God. In fact he was an unknown person, but familiar for everyone. He was a very simple rural man who became a very strong and brave pilot. According to the Epic Culture Service of the Iranian Student’s News Agency (ISNA), Abbas Babaei was born in 1950 in Qazvin city. He accomplished his elementary and high school in the same city and in 1969, he entered the pilotage college of the Air Force and after passing the initial courses, he went to the United States of America in order to complete his education. Babaei went to the United States of America in 1970 in order to pass his pilotage courses. According to the rules of the college, he needed to live with an American roommate for two months. The Americans would consider this work as a development for the English language of the students, but the reality was something else. Since Abbas would do all the religious affairs in all the situations, he hated the messy situation of the United States of America in the field of veil and chastity. His roommate via a report regarding the features and morale of Abbas has written that it is emphasized that Babaei is an isolated person in the behaviors and he is indifferent towards the traditions and the social norms. From his behavior it can be found out that he does not like the western culture and he is intensively committed to the traditional culture of Iran. Also he has pointed out to this issue that he goes to a corner and he talks with himself, which he meant Abbas would worship and perform his prayer. He himself has described the story of graduation from the pilotage college of the United States of America as follows: "Our pilotage courses had been completed in the United States of America, but according to the reports which had been written in my service case, my destiny was not clear and they would not issue a certificate for me, eventually someday I was summoned to the office of the college authority who was an American general. I went to his room and I respected him. He asked me to sit down. My case was in front of him on the table. The general was the final person who could accept or reject me and he would offer his declaration in this field. He asked some questions and I replied his questions. From the questions of the general it could be found out that he did not have a good comment about me. This meeting had a direct relationship with my reputation and dignity, because I was feeling that the pains that I had tolerated for two years due to being away from my family and the happiness plans that I had for my future in my heart was just being wiped put just in a moment and that I needed to return to Iran without getting the certificate of pilotage. I was thinking about this issue that suddenly the door of the room was opened and someone asked permission to step in. He stepped in and in addition of respecting, he asked the general to get out of the room in order to do a very significant work. When the general left the room, I stayed in the room for a moment in loneliness. I looked at my watch, it was the noon time. I was wished I was not there, because if I was not there, I could perform my prayer. I waited so much until the general to come there. I said that nothing is more important than performing prayer. I perform my prayer in the same place. God willing, he won’t come here until my prayer to be finished. I went to a corner of the room and I put a newspaper that I had in my hand on the ground and I started performing my prayer. I was performing my prayer that I noticed the general opened the door and he stepped in. I thought about this issue that what should I do? I should continue the prayer or break the prayer? Eventually I decided to continue my prayer, so that whatever God wants will happen for me. Finally I completed my prayer and when I wanted to sit on the chair, I apologized to the general; the general kept quiet for a few moments and he looked at me meaningfully and he said: "What were you doing?”? I said: I was worshipping God He said: can you explain it more? I said: In our religion, the demand is that we should perform prayer at some exact times of the day and night and we need to worship God. Therefore when I was in your office, it was the prayer time, since you were not in the room, so I started performing the prayer and I did my religious duty. The general nodded when I described it and he said: All the things which have been mentioned in your case seem to be for some work like this, isn’t this like this? I responded: Yes, that is right. He smiled: from his outlook it could be understood that he had liked my commitment to my tradition, culture and that I have not been changed in the United States of America at all. He cheerfully took out his pen and he signed my case. After that he got up respectfully and he stretched his hand and he said: "I congratulate to you. You have been accepted. I hope success for you in the future.”? I also thanked him mutually too. I respected him and I left the room. On that day I performed prayer at the first place that had a good privacy in order to thank God to the great blessing that he had granted me. When the modern aircrafts F-14 were brought for the Air Force, martyr Babaei was among the intelligent and skillful pilots who would fly with F-5 aircrafts. Therefore he and some other pilots were chosen to fly with the F-14 aircrafts and he was transferred to the Esfhan Air Base. When the conflicts against the Shah’s regime reached its climax, Babaei as one of the revolutionary personnel of the Air Force went to the battle of fighting against the regime along with the other committed individuals of the Army. After the victory of Islamic Revolution, in addition of doing some daily duties, he acted as the supervisor of the Islamic Committee of the Air Base and he protected and guarded the magnificent findings of the Islamic Revolution. Since Babaei had commitment, belief, skills and Islamic management, he became a brilliant man and a great commander of the 8th Air Base in 1981. At the time that he was the commander of the Air Base by using the available facilities, he started constructing and developing the poor villages located closed to the headquarters of Esfahan city. He also provided drinking water, electricity supply and other health and education requirements for the villages and in addition of supporting the development and construction of the villages through the line of Islamic Revolution, he struggled so much to localize the Armies and to create a very strong connection between the Army and people. So by this work he did many great services for the Army. Since Babaei was so capable and showed a good sufficiency and commitment of himself during his services in Esfahan Air Base, he was appointed for the ranking of colonel in April 1983. He became the Deputy of the Air Force and he was transferred to Tehran city. Since he had the morale of martyrdom seeking and sacrifice seeking during the years of the Iran-Iraq war, he created many modern and golden pages for the history of the Sacred Defense Era and for the Air Force of the Army. Also by flying for more than 3000 hours with different aircrafts, he spent most of his times in the flying operations or in the air bases and the battlefields of west and south Iran. That is why he became a familiar face for the Basijis and he was a loyal follower of the operation commanders of the headquarters and only until 1985 (his martyrdom time), he successfully launched 60 military operations. For the quick development of the operations and for the accuracy of the work and missions, he would not only suffice to supervising, but also he personally would be a pioneer and he would take part in the military missions and operations which had been designed against the enemy. Also for the purpose of getting knowledge about the risks and probable dangers, he would be the first pilot who would fly to the places. Major General Babaei due to his merit and competency and braveness that he did in defending the system, suppression and defense against the violations of the enemy, he was appointed as the brigadier general in April 1987. General Babaei the operation deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army at the time of return from an overseas mission was targeted by the anti-aircrafts and he was martyred. General Abbas Babaei in the morning of August 5, the Ghorban Feast had gone to the war zones along with some other pilots to detect the war zones in order to determine a strategy for the future operations, he flew with an F-5 aircraft from Tabriz Air Base and he entered the sky of Iraq. After doing his mission, at the time of return in the sky of border lines, he was targeted by the anti-air defense of the enemy and his head had been badly injured, therefore he was martyred within a few minutes. One of the narrators of the War Research and Studies Center regarding this event has written: "Following the shooting to the air craft of general Babaei, since some disorders had been created in the function system of the aircraft and the Air Base of Tabriz city, the abovementioned air base announced to the Air Base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that one of the Iranian aircrafts has crashed in the war zone, so they should struggle to find the remains of the aircraft and the corpse of the martyr. Within a short time from this announcement, the abovementioned person contacted again and as he was crying in tears said: "The aircraft landed on the ground; but one of the pilots has been martyred due to a bullet has hit his head.”? The narrator regarding the reflex of martyrdom news of general Babaei among the forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said: "Some of the senior commanders of the Corps were verifying some of the operations in a meeting and they were informed about the martyrdom news of General Babaei through a phone call. The news was told to Major General Rahim Safavi. When this news was heard, the meeting was cancelled and all the attendees of the meeting cried in tears, especially those who knew Abbas Babaei so well.”? It is narrated that a few days before the martyrdom in response to the persistency of his friends for going to the Mecca in order to visit the house of God, he had said: "I will come there until Ghorban feast.”? Babaei was 37 years old at the time of martyrdom. He was a manifestation who performed many sacrifices from his childhood until the final moments of his lifetime and eventually he reached his ambition that was martyrdom on Ghorban Feast. As a result his popular name became everlasting in the great history of Iran. The End