Gilla Gerzon (Hebrew: גילה גרזון), known to many United States military personnel as the "mother of the 6th fleet,"[1][2] is an Israeli who served as director of the Haifa, Israel USO for almost eighteen years, from the time it opened in December 1984[2] until it closed in September 2002 when U.S. security concerns for the region led to a sharp decrease in U.S. ship visits.

[5] 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.

[1] Under Gerzon's direction, the USO not only provided opportunities for visiting military personnel to tour the country, but also to get involved with its people.

For example, Gerzon speaks about the time a group of sailors visited a school for emotionally handicapped children, "just to play with them...to make tricks and entertain them...[and]they went back three times,"[15] 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.

[15] Trips organized by the USO brought sailors to locations including the Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Masada, in addition to visits to homes and kibbutzim.

[17] The USO also sponsored many special events including beach parties that allowed military personnel to mingle with Israeli citizens.

[16] Other special events for shipboard personnel Gerzon coordinated on behalf of the USO included children's parades, folklore dances, and even fashion shows.

[19][20] Part of the decision was to use the USO to house a new "LT Elmo Zumwalt III" Library, sponsored by Book Bank USA.

[23] 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,[24][25][26] the USO was closed in September 2002.

[34] 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.

[5][12] Recalling that she was "heartsick when I heard that so many young men had been killed," Gerzon immediately began to create support for a monument in honor of the victims, but the project was delayed after the kidnapping and eventual murder of U.S. Marine Lt.Col.

[12] Gerzon's poetry often marked her efforts, including the poem she wrote to remember the Americans lost in the Beirut bombing: "They came in peace.