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EDITOR'S NOTE:
Ambassador John Gunther Dean has donated his personal papers to the
Jimmy Carter
Library. Dean was U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Denmark, Lebanon, Thailand, and India during a Foreign Service career that began in 1956 and ended with his retirement in 1989.
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The following is an excerpt from Ambassador Dean's oral history interview about his time in Lebanon.
Oral History Interview with Ambassador John Gunther Dean
Ambassador John Gunther Dean: Let me mention one particular incident, which again came close to costing me my life. The cause was my good relationship with my diplomatic colleagues. I was close to various ambassadors, including many Arab representatives. At the time, there was no Egyptian ambassador in Beirut. But there was a Kuwaiti ambassador, a Saudi ambassador, a Turkish ambassador, and the French, the Belgian, the Dutch, the Spanish, the Brazilian, the Mexican, the British, Canadian ambassadors -- you name it. Everybody was represented.
One evening, I was at a social reception with the chairman of the Middle East Airlines. He was of Palestinian origin, a Christian man named Assad Nasr. He was a very competent personality and we had become friends. He told me that evening: "Listen, I just got a phone call. The Saudi and Kuwaiti Ambassadors were shot down in a Lebanese Government helicopter over the Christian part of Lebanon. The Saudi Ambassador has a bullet lodged in his leg. He is in pain. He has been taken to one of the Christian private hospitals in the Christian heartland. You should go and see him." I said: "Who said I should go and see him? ' "I am telling you that" said the head of the Middle East Airlines. I said: "Why?" He said: "Because the Saudis look to the United States whenever they have a problem; you are supposed to help them out." I said: "Wait a second. It's 9:00 p.m." He said: "Yes, but 9:00 p.m., Saudis expect service all year round and 24 hours a day." "That means I have to go and get my entire convoy going, and we have to cross over from West Beirut over to East Beirut and go up to the hospital in the hills?" He said: "Yes, that's what you've got to do. I'll tell you. It's good advice." I said: "I will take it."
I got my security team together, the convoy of three cars with bodyguards ready to drive at night from West Beirut over into East Beirut and into the hills often manned by Christian militiamen. Driving at night between these two areas was not without risk. I told my wife that I was going to visit my Saudi colleague and she pointed out to me the danger of being on the road at that time of the night. When I got to the hospital, I saw Lieutenant General Ali Shaher, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, lying in a bed under an image of the Virgin. He was a very tall man. He said: "John, please get me to the American Hospital. It's not that I am not getting good medical care here, but I am in pain. I want to go where I am completely at ease and my family can visit me. I want to go to the American Hospital in West Beirut." I said: "Okay. It's now after 10:00 in the evening, so tomorrow morning at 10:00 we will have the motorcade get you and take you to the American University Hospital in West Beirut."
I went back to my residence in West Beirut, which I used in case I was stuck in the city. That night, this was the case. I must have gotten back about 11:30 p.m. I also made arrangements to have the Saudi Ambassador moved by motorcade and ambulance at 10:00 a.m. the next day, to the American University Hospital. The transfer went smoothly. Ali Shaher got a nice room at the American Hospital, his family visited him, and he got great medical attention.
One of the great figures at the time was Danny Chamoun, the son of Camille Chamoun, former President of Lebanon and militia/ political leader of the free enterprise political elements in Lebanon. Danny Chamoun had the idea to visit the Saudi Ambassador at the American Hospital. Danny, like his father, had a relationship with the Saudis, but was that enough to expose his life by crossing over from the Christian-held East Beirut to the more international West Beirut, where enemies of Danny could easily try to kill him? When it was known that Danny Chamoun was at the American Hospital, elements hostile to Danny gathered around the American Hospital and started shooting out the windows at the American Hospital. Who made up the mob trying to storm the American University Hospital? Mostly Lebanese who opposed the Phalange and Chamounists -- people who were more influenced by leftist propaganda, who believed that the Syrian model had some value for Lebanon, dissatisfied Moslems and Palestinians who saw in Chamoun "a friend of Israel." By late afternoon, a couple of thousand demonstrators had surrounded the American Hospital and the worst was to be feared.
By about 8:00 p.m., I was informed by one of my valiant security men that: "It's absolutely essential that you come immediately to the American Hospital. They are shooting up the American Hospital. There is going to be nothing left. They are going to take it by storm to get a hold of Danny Chamoun. The crowd is made up of Palestinians, Syrians, Muslims, Christians, crazies who are absolutely determined to destroy the American Hospital. The Saudi Ambassador's life is in danger. He needs you badly. This time, he is calling, for you." I replied: "Okay, fellows, let's get the motorcade ready and go!"
We entered through the large garage door of the American Hospital. As the door opened, the guard who opened it got shot and killed by one of the snipers in the crowd. Once inside the hospital, I rushed to Ali Shaher's room. There he was, with his wife and daughter. He said: "Listen, this crowd is crazy. You've got to help stop this madness." I replied: "What shall I do?" He said: "Go and call Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia, and tell him to contact Arafat and President Asaad of Syria and tell them to stop this shooting. Otherwise, this thing is going to get out of hand and everything will go up in flames."
I got in my car in the garage and as the garage door opened to drive to the Embassy, rifle shots killed two Lebanese security people protecting the garage door! Three people had been killed by my entering or leaving the American Hospital. Once out of the hospital, the road to the Embassy was safe. My car picked up a bullet, as usual, but as the limousine was armored. I was used to that kind of harassment.
By this time, it must have been 9:00 p.m. at the Embassy, and I asked for the communicators to come to the office. I never realized how easy it was to communicate with the world from the American Embassy. The communicators came within 10 minutes. I said; "I would like to talk to Crown Prince Fahd in Saudi Arabia." It was as if I had asked to speak with my aunt in New Jersey. The communicators did not ask me to give them the telephone number. They took it in their stride. Within two to five minutes, I had the Lord Chamberlain of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on the line. I identified myself. He said: "What can I do for you?" I said: "I have a message from Ambassador Lieutenant General Ali Shaher who asked me to transmit it to Crown Prince Fahd." "Yes, Prince Fahd is standing right next to me. What is the message?" "Tell him that they are shooting up the American Hospital in Beirut, where Ambassador Shaher is recovering from a flesh wound in his leg. Please call President Hafez el-Assad and Arafat and tell them to stop the mob from attacking the hospital. If there are no interventions from above, the hospital will be destroyed, many innocent lives will perish, and the confrontation in the Near East will get much worse. Ali Shaher and his family fear for their lives." The Lord Chamberlain said: "Yes Sir, I will transmit the message."
We then left the Embassy and drove to the American Hospital. In the process, we picked up a couple of stray bullets as we went into the garage. Nobody was killed this time. The situation was out of hand. They were shooting all over the place. It was about 10:00 p.m. I asked one of my security guards who had a walkie-talkie, to notify my wife. "Please call my wife and tell her that I am not coming home to night. I'm spending my night at the American Hospital, near the room of the Saudi Ambassador, so he will be reassured." Then, I told Ambassador Shaher that I had conveyed his message to the Crown Prince and that I was taking a room near his room. By one o'clock, silence descended on the entire area of the American Hospital of Beirut. Except there was hardly any air conditioning any more and it was hot outside. There were no more windows in most parts of the building. The crowds had dispersed. Next day, I went to see Ambassador Ali Shaher in his room and then I returned to my office. My security guards informed my wife that I was back at the office and not to worry about me.
To finish this story, Ambassador Shaher had the bullet removed from his leg. After Shaher's release from the hospital, he gave me a small, intimate reception and thanked me for my assistance. After he returned to Saudi Arabia, Ali Shaher became Minister for Information for the next 10 years. He then became one of the advisers to King Fahd. From this episode, I came away with a feeling of respect for the role of the Saudis in the Near East, and a better understanding of the U. S. relationship with Saudi leadership. If the Saudis want to play a role, they certainly have the power to do so.
Click here to read Ambassador Dean's complete list of oral history interviews.
Source: Jimmy Carter Library
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