Photo by Lester Smith
Cdr. Sarah Zak, USN (Ret.), a daughter of Amiel and Mary Anne Zak, was the principal speaker for Suffield’s Veterans Day observance this year. She spoke briefly about her experience in Anti-Submarine Warfare systems, but used most of her time to encourage appreciation and good treatment of veterans.
One of the things that occupies Sara Zak during her retirement is hunting for things that, when you come right down to it, are really waiting to be found.
She has become a devoted fan of an internet-based game called “geo-caching,” which she describes as a high-tech scavenger hunt that has taken her to the nooks and crannies of northern Connecticut. She enjoys the challenge of discovery and the impetus the game provides to get out and do some extended walking.
It is a not-surprising pastime for a woman whose service to her country as Commander Sara Zak, United States Navy (Retired) was in antisubmarine warfare – specifically the detection in deep ocean waters of Soviet submarines that unquestionably did NOT want to be found.
But found they were. Not only could her team detect Soviet subs, they were able, through sophisticated sound analysis, to determine the particular class of submarine they were looking at and the weapons they carried.
As the Cold War drew to a close, so did the importance of deep water submarine detection. Instead, shallow water submarine detection (think coastal Korea, China, and the Mediterranean) was the order of the day. Commander Zak chose to teach at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and then retire.
Her home base is now Suffield, although she loves spending some of her time in San Diego, where she can mix with a military crowd whose culture and customs have become a large part of who she is. As we looked out her dining room window at a blanket of January snow, Sara was also reminded that cold and white were not on the top of her climate list. Besides, she loves visiting old friends.
And she loves bringing people together. Six years ago she orchestrated a reunion in Arlington, Virginia for 60 ROTC cadets and their partners who, like her, had graduated from the University of Rochester.
Now she is embarked on an even more ambitious endeavor, one that combines her penchant for puzzle-solving with the rewards of social connections. She is tracing her father’s Polish ancestry.
Sara’s grandmother came from the village of Piatak, and was part of a large family that formed an extended community there. When Sara and her sister Amy traveled to Poland in 2016, they had lunch with 25 of their Kreczko family relatives.
Sara’s grandfather, a Zak, came from the nearby village of Reszkowce, and appears to have had a splintered family that left him to fend on his own. It is not clear why.
It looks like one of the Zaks was sent to Siberia. Was he a rebel? A thief? A thorn in the side of someone with more power and influence and connections?
The answer may be buried in the past, but a retired submarine spotter from Connecticut is on the trail.