Joseph W. Grant, a US World War II pilot, has been honored with the King Abdul Aziz Medal – First Class. The award was presented to Grant by Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States, Adel Bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, on behalf of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, at a ceremony in the US capital this week. The King Abdul Aziz Medal is awarded in recognition of significant contributions made by an individual to the Kingdom. Joe Grant, 100 years old, is the pilot who in 1945 flew a Douglas-DC3 aircraft to Saudi Arabia to be delivered as a gift to King Abdul Aziz from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, following their historic meeting onboard the USS Quincy on Feb. 14, 1945. Subsequently, Captain Grant served two years in the Kingdom as the first airline pilot to King Abdul Aziz, founder of the modern Saudi state. Captain Grant was also instrumental in the establishment of the Saudi Arabian Airlines, the country's national carrier, and the training of its pilots. “Mr. Grant's contributions to helping foster Saudi-US relations are deeply appreciated to this day. We are pleased to honor such a longstanding friend and wish him happiness and continued good health,” Ambassador Al-Jubeir said in information made available to Saudi Gazette here. “This is a really big thing and I couldn't be happier. I feel quite surprised and grateful, and it is a wonderful thing to have been part of the start of such a terrific airline,” said Grant. “We started the airline before we had the airports. Sometimes, we'd just find a little strip of desert to land on when we picked up our passenger loads,” he said. Returning to Riyadh two years ago aboard a Saudi Arabian Airlines 747, Grant marveled at the country's transformation since World War II. “They are a great people. What was once desert is now fertile farms,” he said. Grant said he grew up poor “in the backwoods of Florida.” In 1928, when he was 19, he left his family and concentrated on earning his flight license, which he did in 1930. He flew everything from propeller planes before World War II to 707 jets when he was a pilot for Trans World Airlines. He is now a well-known jeweler in Stamford. His time in Saudi Arabia inspired him to master the craft of jewelsmith after he became an admirer of a Russian silversmith who designed “puzzle rings,” a series of bands that fit together to form one ring. After retiring from a 20-year-career as a TWA pilot in 1968, he opened Jose Grant Fine Jewelry. Grant continues to design puzzle rings, which include elaborately worked metals embedded with jewels and semi-precious stones. “I love designing jewelry for people and designing something beautiful,” he said. Grant's son, Edward Grant, president of the store, said his father instilled in him the importance of being adventurous and finding pleasurable work. “My dad is probably the nicest man I've met in my life,” said Edward Grant, 46, also a licensed pilot. “He loves the puzzle rings and designing jewelry for people, but he gets as excited about the flying as anything. He never worked for the money in his life,” he added.
