Gilla Gerzon

Gilla Gerzon , known to many United States military personnel as the "mother of the 6th fleet," until it closed in September 2002 when U.S. security concerns for the region led to a sharp decrease in U.S. ship visits. In 1993, she was brought to Somalia to establish a temporary USO for U.S. service personnel deployed in support of Operation Restore Hope.

Gerzon is the first Israeli citizen to receive the United States Navy Commendation Medal.

Background Gerzon first began working with U.S. military personnel during her time as director of public relations at Haifa's Dan Carmel Hotel in the 1980s. Beginning in 1979 five to ten Sixth Fleet ships began to visit Haifa each year, but by the mid-80s, after the bombing, the annual number of port calls by U.S. ships had grown to 40–50. Two officers on Admiral Martin's staff, Public Affairs Officer Captain Peter Litrenta and Assistant Sixth Fleet Chaplain Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, had worked with Gerzon during her time at the Dan Carmel, and recommended her as director for the proposed USO operation. before a crowd of hundreds of Navy personnel from the and the . It was located near the entrance to the Dan Panorama Hotel on Mount Carmel. Working with a team of volunteers, Gerzon worked to welcome military personnel and provide them with opportunities to explore and get to know Israel. Under her leadership, the Haifa USO became "one of the best-loved facilities in the USO system." Referred to as "a one-woman whirlwind" USO welcomes officers and crews of two U.S. Navy ships visiting Haifa

A USO article noted that the Haifa USO under Gerzon's leadership epitomized "forward deployed hospitality for U.S. forces overseas." while others went to schools to speak with students or to a cancer ward at a Haifa hospital to visit patients, entertaining them or bringing them gifts. Gerzon notes that during major ship visits, 400–500 sailors would visit the USO daily, sometimes asking questions about agriculture or technology in Israel, and sometimes to take advantage of free tickets to events such as the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. Gerzon with a gathering of religious leaders from Jerusalem, meeting with visiting U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army Chiefs of Chaplains and U.S. Sixth Fleet Navy Chaplain Gerzon escorting U.S. Navy officers on a visit to Haifa, led by Chief of Naval Operations Jeremy Michael Boorda (to right, holding hat)

In addition to activities that brought U.S. military personnel to meet Israelis, Gerzon worked to bring Israelis to meet and greet the Americans—such as the time that crew members from visiting U.S. Navy ships and arrived on small boats from their ships to be greeted at the Haifa port by 50 Israeli school children, singing songs in Hebrew and English, and waving U.S. and Israeli flags.

Closing In 1989 USO financial concerns drove a decision to close the Haifa USO, but a groundswell of support and appeals from the Sixth Fleet, the United States Congress and organizations such as the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs resulted in a reversal of the decision. Part of the decision was to use the USO to house a new "LT Elmo Zumwalt III" Library, sponsored by Book Bank USA. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin reportedly proposed to U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993 that Haifa become the homeport for the U.S. Sixth Fleet,

However, when U.S. ship visits to Haifa sharply decreased in the early 2000s, largely because of security concerns in the region, including the Second Intifada in Israel and the October 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen, the USO was closed in September 2002. Israel criticized the U.S. decision as one that sent a signal of weakness to Islamic militants. Beginning in 2008 U.S. Navy ship visits to Haifa began to increase once more, but although no plans have been announced to reopen the USO, Haifa Deputy Spokesman Roni Grossman has said that hosting American sailors "is a great tradition of the city"—and although the number of sailors now visiting the city "pales in comparison" to the numbers that used to arrive on Navy ships, "it's significant that there is a renewed connection between Israel and the American navy...[and] Now we're doing everything we can to show the sailors a good time." Many individuals and organizations involved with supporting visitors, on ships or through visits sponsored by the American Embassy, credit their work with Gerzon and the USO as the inspiration for their involvement.

USO Somalia Gerzon was one of the first USO employees to volunteer to go to Somalia to work with the USO to support American troops. Located at the Mogadishu airport, the USO Somalia operation continued through April 1993, hosting shows from entertainers such as Clint Black, but military personnel reported that something as simple as a "warm coke" ("best coke I ever had") made a big difference in their lives during hard times.

Memorializing Americans In honor of the 241 Americans killed in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing Gerzon personally spearheaded an effort to have a park dedicated in their honor—with one tree planted for each victim of the attack.

The tree planting ceremony that officially dedicated the site was attended by more than 250 Marines and Sailors from the U.S.Marine Corps 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and Israeli children from the Degania and Really schools in Haifa.

Gerzon continued to make this memorial a place to remember American losses, and after the December 1990 death of 21 U.S. sailors who drowned when their liberty boat capsized during its return to the , she began efforts to remember their deaths as well—and within a year 21 additional trees were planted in their memory and a plaque memorializing them was added to the park.

Honors and awards For her work during Operation Desert Storm, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy authorized the award of the Navy Commendation Medal (since renamed the "Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal") to Gerzon. The medal was presented in a ceremony on board the USS Inchon, making Gerzon the first Israeli citizen to receive that award.