… Studying at the London School of Economics when the war broke out, I called the Israel Embassy to volunteer and arrived in Israel shortly after the war ended. After a day in Tel Aviv, I bused to Jerusalem and walked the streets, mesmerized by the milieu and the moment. Another visitor at my hotel told me about an office that placed volunteers in jobs.
The next afternoon, I found the nondescript Jewish Agency office. A middle-aged man with a British accent interviewed me. When I mentioned my experience as an ordnance officer in the American army, he brightened and asked if my experience was field or staff. I had served a year in Korea with the Seventh Infantry Division, in a forward support company. That was the right answer. He called two men from the next room, and they spoke animatedly in Hebrew, of which I understood not a word. Together, they continued the interview, questioning me about military equipment. It was clear that they were checking my familiarity with field vocabulary to test my veracity.
Twenty minutes later, they spoke among themselves, and then the one with the British accent stood up and said quite formally, “We invite you to lead a group of civilian volunteers to work in Sinai to clear out damaged and abandoned military equipment. Are you interested?” Interested? Of course I was interested! Suddenly I felt as if I floated six feet in the air, levitating. “Yes, certainly!”
– Volunteers, Six Days Plus – Michael Zimmerman
