American Pilot Gives Rare View of Saudi-U.S. Relationship.

Captain Joseph Grant, a U.S. WorldWar II pilot, will be in the Washington, DC area this week for the national booklaunch of "King Abdulaziz...His Plane and His Pilot," by Michael Saba. Captain Grantwill provide a rare first-hand account of the history and the beginning of thediplomatic Saudi-U.S. relationship as the first pilot to King Abdulaziz binAbdulrahman Al-Saud, the founder of the third Saudi state, in 1945.

Captain Grant, who is 101 years old, flew a Douglas-DC-3 aircraft to Saudi Arabia tobe delivered as a gift to King Abdulaziz from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt,following the leader's historic meeting aboard the USS Quincy on February 14, 1945. Subsequently, he served two years in the Kingdom as the first airline pilot to KingAbdulaziz. Captain Grant was also instrumental in the establishment of SaudiArabia's first national airline and the training of its pilots.

On November 12, Captain Grant and author Dr. Saba will be at the Glenn L. MartinMaryland Aviation Museum in Baltimore, MD from 12:00 p.m. into the afternoon, and atthe Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC on November 14, from 1:00p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir expressed appreciation toCaptain Grant saying, "Captain Grant's efforts to help develop aviation in SaudiArabia and to unite our two countries under a mutual interest still resonate todayand we will forever be grateful."

On January 28, 2009, Captain Grant was presented with the King Abdulaziz Medal,which is awarded in recognition of significant contributions made by an individualto the Kingdom. In addition, on March 22, 2007, Captain Grant was presented with theFriends of Saudi Arabia's Hart Award. This award is named for Ambassador Parker T.Hart who opened the first U.S. Consulate in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia over 60 years agoand served as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1961-1965.

2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

2009 Al Bawaba (Albawaba.com)

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