Photo from Arab News

Capt. Joseph Grant, a U.S. World War II pilot, will be in the Washington, D.C. area this week for the national book launch of “King Abdulaziz…His Plane and His Pilot,” by Michael Saba. Grant will provide a rare first-hand account of the history and the beginning of the diplomatic Saudi-U.S. relationship as the first pilot to King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud, the founder of the third Saudi state, in 1945.

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

... read the rest of 101-year-old pilot to give first-hand account of the beginnings of U.S.-Saudi relationship (117 words)