Renzo Joseph Pasquini has moved, at the age of 88, to a higher plane joining his ancestors. He is the son of the late Cavaliere Menotti Pasquini of Tuscany, Italy. His great grandfather Vincenzo fought with Garibaldi to unite Italy as one of ‘Il Mille’ and later went on to become a founding member of the Croce Verde (the Italian equivalent at the time to the Red Cross organization).

A very private and stoic man, his formative years were spent in London dodging bombs during The Blitz. He once told the tale of how he and his Italian family would seek refuge in the local air raid shelter during the day. However, this changed the first evening when the night bombings started as the locals would not allow them into the shelter as they were ‘Italian’ and hence ‘the enemy’. That evening he and his family sheltered around the kitchen table with only a candle for company and 2 English neighbors who were pacifists. The next morning at first light they discovered the air raid shelter where they were refused entry during the night had unfortunately taken a direct hit.

To meet him, you would say that Joseph (as he went on to be more commonly known) was quintessentially the English gentlemen – often causing his daughters to giggle when their friends called and upon hearing his voice asked if the family had a butler. We say quintessential as well as no cup of tea could be served in the house without first warming up the cup!

We should stress that he was actually a true Officer and a Gentleman as he proudly served his birth country as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force – serving for a number of years and also acting as an instructor for the RAF Bomber Command.

However, his military legacy is very much of important historic note as he was one of a handful of survivors who flew through the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb (more than once) for research purposes during Operations Grapple and Yankee – part of the British Nuclear Testing program in the 1950s.

In his words, “At the time we didn’t know why, and we didn’t want to know. We were far too busy preparing for our main event. Within ten minutes we would be flying through Grapple Yankee. We would be the first aircraft to fly into the nuclear cloud. We knew we would be flying in. But, we didn’t know if we would be flying out”.

Joseph spent the later years of his life campaigning for recognition of not only his fellow servicemen involved in the nuclear tests but also their families – working with organizations such as the BNTVA (the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association), LabRats International and Fission Online as well as being an expert witness with his first-hand knowledge and experience. A year before passing he published a book documenting his knowledge and experience of the events of that time.

A Memorial Service will be held at Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut on Veterans Day - Thursday November 11th 2021 at 11am (New York) – A fitting time for an honorable officer and a gentleman of military lineage.

For those who would like to participate from overseas the service can also be viewed live here: https://events.locallive.tv/events/63448

RIP Joe #wewillrememberthem