Khamees Al Naqbi’s son died a decade ago during a rescue mission at sea but he remembers it as though it were yesterday.
Abdulaziz volunteered to help find a lost swimmer and was himself washed over the side of a boat off the coast of Fujairah. The 31-year-old's body was never found.
But the brave young man who ventured into the stormy waters that day will never be forgotten by his proud family.
As they sat with quiet dignity at the Wahat Al Karama war memorial in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, families remembered their own martyred sons and fathers and those of the Emiratis around them.
The country's leaders stood before the memorial on Thursday to honour those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Many of the recent dead lost their lives in Yemen but others died as Abdulaziz, who had four children, did or in training missions at home or abroad. All are remembered with the same reverence.
-
Members of the UAE Armed Forces participate in a Commemoration Day ceremony at Wahat Al Karama. All photos by Ministry of Presidential Affairs -
UAE Rulers approach the memorial to lay wreaths. -
UAE Rulers walk as a military band plays. -
Ministries, schools and offices observed a minute’s silence on Thursday to honour Emiratis who have died while serving their country. -
Ceremonies for Commemoration Day, which usually falls on November 30 but is being marked a day early, took place across the UAE. -
Right to Left - Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mu'alla, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Umm Al Quwain, Sheikh Hamad bin Mohamed Al Sharqi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid, Vice-President, Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Defence, Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah and Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, observe a moment of silence during a Commemoration Day ceremony at Wahat Al Karama. -
Maj Gen Pilot Sheikh Ahmed bin Tahnoon bin Mohamed, Chairman of the National and Reserve Service Authority (first row, third right), Rear Admiral Pilot Sheikh Saeed bin Hamdan bin Mohamed, Commander of the UAE Naval Forces (first row fourth right), Brig Gen Saleh Mohamed Saleh Al Ameri, Commander of the UAE Ground Forces (1st row fifth right) and members of the UAE Armed Forces and foreign armed forces representatives attend a Commemoration Day ceremony at Wahat Al Karama. -
Members of the UAE Armed Forces participate in the Commemoration Day ceremony. -
Members of the UAE Armed Forces perform a twenty-one gun salute. -
The day began with the lowering of the national flag at 8am. -
A minute’s silent prayer was observed from 11.30am to 11.31am, which was followed by the raising of the flag and the national anthem. -
Martyrs families attend a Commemoration Day ceremony. -
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed later said that "their memory will remain in out consciousness" and their relatives "at the heart of the nation". -
Members of the UAE Armed Forces hold a minute silence -
Soldiers then marched to the rulers and handed them decorations of honour to hand to ten martyrs’ families, as jets performed a fly-by. -
Members of the UAE Armed Forces perform a twenty-one gun salute.
Mr Al Naqbi, 65, can recall the day his son died in 2009 to the smallest detail.
“It was around eight in the evening and it was so cold. The waves were very high and I just had a gut feeling that something was not right. It rained a lot that day,” said Mr Al Naqbi.
“A man was drowning in the sea so Abdulaziz went out on a speed boat. But because of the weather that day he drowned. His colleagues survived," said the father, whose eyes still fill up with tears when he speaks of that day.
“They got the coastguards and the divers out. They spent months looking for his body,” he said.
“But I am proud that my son died for his country. The purpose of life is to serve God foremost and then your country. Abdulaziz died fulfiling his duty and in service of his country,” he said.
Khamees Mussabah, 45, died in 1988, when the plane he was in crashed outside Dubai during a training mission.
His son Adel was at the service to remember him. He said Commemoration Day is important to his family.
“To me it means fatherhood,” says Adel, who was only seven when his father died.
Adel, 39, a firefighter, says that even though it has been more thirty years, he “remembers everything”
“I haven’t forgotten a thing. His face, his voice, his laugh,” he said.
Adel's grandfather, also named Khamees, said: “Even though you can never forget your son, Commemoration Day revives his memory and that of our loved ones."
In those days, Adel said, the recognition was not as it is today, and that the role servicemen and women play today role has taken on new meaning.
“When he died, yes the rulers visited it us, but there was nothing like this," he said.
"The family mourned silently and as a child I wanted and wished for more. Today my wish has come true and my father is being recognised for the hero he was."
Maryam Al Manaei, 46, lost her son Mohamed Al Dhaheri, 22, when his plane crashed in Yemen in 2016. She said the military spent two weeks looking for his remains.
“I kept expecting them to find him and for him to walk in the door,” she said.
“Will you believe me when I tell you that when they told me that they found his body, I didn’t believe he was dead and I still don’t?
"To me, my son is still with me. I have never forgotten him for a second. He didn’t die."
She said that her son’s last words before his death was him seeking her permission.
“He asked me how I would feel if he died a martyr defending his country,” she said.
“I told him that it was the most noble way to die and if God intends for him to die a martyr then it would happen.
"People die in car accidents and in different ways. I’m happy that he died serving his country and fulfiling his dream,” she said.
________________
Read more:
UAE falls silent to honour the country's heroes
Abu Dhabi's war memorial is an 'oasis of dignity' for UAE's heroes
UAE's heroic servicemen represent country's true values of justice and dignity, leaders say
________________
