These excerpts from the memoirs of a former member of Italy’s 36th Air Brigade, published by the Italian Air Force, provides fascinating perspective on the shock felt by officers when they received the dismantling instructions and then how they planned and carried out their tasks. The following sentences convey the emotional reactions: “The dismantling, for those who experienced it, was a real demolition. A frenetic destructive activity pervaded the military community which, almost with anger and a certain sadism, destroyed and reduced to useless remains everything on which it had studied, worked and operated.” As the excerpts makes clear, not everything was destroyed and junked. Consistent with the Joint Staff’s original proposals, sensitive components, such as the warheads were returned to the U.S., while other parts of the missiles were salvaged and made available to other organizations. Some equipment went to Italy’s “San Marco” space research program, just as Prime Minister Fanfani had proposed to President Kennedy during their meeting in January 1963.

To what extent the dismantling procedure in Turkey paralleled the one in Italy remains unclear, at least on the basis of available documentation.

On March 22, 1963, through an exchange of notes, the U.S. and Italy confirmed the final agreement on the dismantling of the Jupiter missiles and their replacement with patrols of Polaris submarines assigned to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The Polaris patrols would begin on April 1, 1963, and the dismantling operation would occur during the next 25 days.

In his diary, Fanfani recorded that the Council of Ministers has approved his report on the talks with President Kennedy and the recommendation to withdraw the Jupiters on April 1, 1963. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense would have a “mandate” to implement the withdrawal. As agreed, the Jupiters would be replaced by Polaris, and the latter would not be based in Italy. Italy would support a NATO multilateral force, without the tripartite directorate that De Gaulle had espoused.

In the morning, Fanfani met with his advisers, and they agreed to accept the Jupiter-Polaris arrangement. He then met with Kennedy for a series of conversations on East-West issues and the developing countries. During their private meeting, Fanfani conveyed to Kennedy the conditions for the agreement—Polaris submarines would not be based in Italy, and Italy would be a participant in the MLF and a member of the NATO committee establishing it. As he noted in his diary, Fanfani asked that language referring to “bases in the Mediterranean” (“which could lead one to suppose they are in Italy”) be removed from the “minute of understanding” of the meeting. Kennedy accepted the stipulations, and a memorandum of their understanding was prepared.

Fanfani covered the events of the day in this journal entry, noting that he told Kennedy he would make no commitment on the Jupiter-Polaris replacement until he spoke with McNamara. With McNamara, Fanfani emphasized the point about using the Jupiter base for space launches. Both Kennedy and McNamara denied that there was a trade with the USSR, with McNamara emphasizing the risks posed by the Jupiters during the Missile Crisis.

Introduced by a cover letter by Antonio Rubbi dated June 25, 1986, this document is a report on the meeting between Raffaello De Brasi and Hu Yaobang. The issues covered include the Chinese internal situation, Chinese relations with the USSR and other socialist countries and in particular disarmament, and relations between China and the West.

Introduced by a cover letter by Antonio Rubbi dated April 10, 1985, this document is a letter from Siegmund Ginzberg dated March 30, 1985 updating the PCI on the situation in China. The topics covered include a conversation with Hu Yaobang, Natta’s visit, Australia, Vietnam and Cambodia, relations with the USSR, the economy, change in the CCP and the Japanese Communist Party.

Introduced by a cover letter by Antonio Rubbi dated April 9, 1984, this document is a letter from Siegmund Ginzberg updating the PCI on the situation in China. He speaks of the preparations for Reagan’s visit to China, contacts with the Vatican, internal policy issues and finally the case of Tiziano Terzani, an Italian Journalist. As for this latter issue, he expresses his incredulity on the reasons for his expulsion from the country.

Introduced by a cover letter by Antonio Rubbi dated February 1, 1983, this letter from Siegmund Ginzberg dated January 27, 1983 is an account of a conversation with Deng Liqun in which he uses harsh words when speaking of US President Ronald Reagan. The letter also provides an overview of the state of Chinese relations with communist parties around the world.

This document dated November 6, 1982 is a report from Antonio Rubbi on a meeting he had with the Chinese chargé d’affaires on November 5th. He had been ordered to inform the PCI, the only party to be informed, of the visit of Marchais to China. During the meeting with Hu Yao Bang, he states that China is leading player is defending world peace. Both the USSR and USA are to blame for current unrest in their quest for hegemony.