February of 2006 marks another anniversary of the historical meeting between King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States. They met aboard the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez Canal on Feb. 14, 1945. The USS Murphy had been dispatched to Jeddah to pick up the king and his 48-member Saudi contingency that proceeded to rendezvous with the Quincy and President Roosevelt. The Quincy had brought President Roosevelt across the Atlantic Ocean on a secret mission to meet Stalin and Churchill at the famous Yalta conference and then proceeded to the Suez Canal. This was the first meeting of the heads of state of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Over 30 original members of the crews of the Quincy and the Murphy will meet in Washington D.C. this month along with the grandsons of King Abdul Aziz and President Roosevelt, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the US, Prince Turki ibn Faisal and H. Delano Roosevelt. They will be joined by Condit Eddy, the nephew of Col. William Eddy, the US facilitator and translator of this historic meeting more than six decades ago. Over 200 participants will welcome these crewmembers to Washington and will be part of a ceremony presenting them awards of merit for their historic journey that opened the doors of friendship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Sponsored by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission to the USA and the Friends of Saudi Arabia, the two-day event will emphasize the long and enduring friendship of these Saudis and Americans who first met each other in the mid-1940s.
The personal ties of friendship between Saudis and Americans have assumed more and more importance in the last few years. At last year’s celebration of the King Abdul Aziz/FDR meeting in Miami, Florida co-hosted by Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah and Delano Roosevelt stories about the historic meeting and tales of long lasting ties between Americans and Saudis abounded. Tears came to the eyes of both crewmembers from the Quincy and Murphy and members of the audience when the former sailors recalled their memories.
One crew member remembered how President Roosevelt, though a chain smoker, never touched a cigarette in the presence of the king during their over 5-hour meeting, only slipping away once or twice to steal a smoke in the ship’s elevator out of sight of the king. Another former sailor spoke of the fun that he and other crew cooks had with some of the young Saudis on board as they teased each other about who could cook chicken the best.
Humorous incidents were recalled by many of the crewmembers. One crewmember told of his buddy almost knocking President Roosevelt off the ship as he was hosing down the deck and didn’t see the president sitting on the bow of the ship. A former gunnery mate recalled the ships guns being fired in honor of a head of state, King Abdul Aziz, boarding in the Jeddah bay area. Inadvertently, one of the guns was pointed toward the coast of Saudi Arabia rather than toward the Red Sea as was intended. “Saudis along the coast must have had a big surprise when that gun went off,” he stated, but quickly added that no harm was done and this story added to the lore of sea stories that sailors love to tell.
Another crewmember, Bob Winsjansen, remembered particularly the kindness of the Saudis to the American crewmembers. Not only were traditional gifts such as clothes and carpets given by the Saudis to the crewmembers, but Winsjansen recalled how the Saudis had brought melons for the American crew and spoke of how the Saudis threw the melons up to the American crew members from below. He said that after the Americans long trip across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, fresh fruit was a welcome sight.
Another crewmember told of how touched he was by the Saudis that he met and the events that he experienced on that voyage. After the war, he and his wife came to Saudi Arabia to work. He instructed young Saudis in building arts for many years before they returned to the US but he and his wife spoke of their fond memories and many Saudi friends that they stayed in contact with over the years
Crewmember, Albert Levesque, had particularly poignant memories of the meetings. He remembered how well the two heads of state enjoyed each other. He recalls them laughing and really enjoying the company of one another during those 5+ hours together. “The king walked right up to Roosevelt and shook his hand,” stated Levesque. “They hit it off right away”, he said. “I remember the king telling Roosevelt, you’ll never have to worry about oil. I was standing right there and heard it with my own ears.”
Upon returning to the United States, President Roosevelt stopped one last time to address a special joint session of the US Congress. He spoke of his trip and his meeting with King Abdul Aziz and the significant new friendship that had been established between the United States and Saudi Arabia. He went on to say, “I learned more from King Abdul Aziz in 5 minutes than I could have hoped to learn from the exchange of a dozen diplomatic letters.” Less than two months later President Roosevelt passed away.
The legacy of two great world leaders lives on. The families of President Roosevelt and King Abdul Aziz have renewed their acquaintances and plan to meet and honor every year with crewmembers and participants from that historic meeting over 6 decades ago. People-to-people Saudi-American friendship is long remembered and will be celebrated and commemorated this year and for many years to come.
