Two survivors of the war between Iraq and Iran were separated in the chaos by enemy lines, but were reunited more than twenty years later.
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It’s said that one must thrive in order to survive—that it’s wiser to try to save your own life than to go back and save the life of another. In times of chaos and war, however, that’s not the code of survival. In fact, it’s the complete opposite.
If you’re fortunate enough to survive a war, you brush yourself off and begin searching for others who might have survived too. That’s exactly what happened to Zahed Haftlang, according to an article from The New York Times.
Haftlang, an Iranian, came across an Iraqi soldier in the debris of the Iraq-Iran war named Najah Aboud in the midst of trying to escape the aftermath and save his own life. Haftlang, who was 13 years old at the time, saw that Aboud was broken and wounded. Haftlang made the choice to go back into the wreckage and pull this stranger’s near lifeless body out.
It’s reported that these two men–who were supposed to be enemies on opposite sides of the war—bonded because of Haftlang’s willingness to help Aboud heal from the physical and emotional scars he sustained. After that, however, they never saw or spoke to each other again–until over two decades later.
This is a story about how family can often take precedence over blood, and the power of learning that there’s no difference between the two when it really matters.
This isn’t just a story about war. It’s a wake-up call on any and all accounts.
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