And so it would have remained if a rookie CBS reporter named Vince Gonzalez hadnt run across Sampleys article about Blassie on the Internet. Webb refused. It can represent all soldiers. Interestingly, the soldiers identities *were* known and the Danes made an effort to give each soldier his last rites. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. The ability to match mtDNA between related individuals, and the fact that it does not degrade as rapidly as nuclear DNA, makes it a valuable tool in the identification of human remains. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. By no means, the office reported back, is there anything to substantiate that your brother is in the Tomb of the Unknown.. He had been shot down near An Loc, Vietnam, in 1972.. This is especially true for people like me that have no familial association with the military. If they had, they might have hung up on him. The President also acted as next of kin to the unidentified Blassie by accepting the interment flag at the end of the ceremony. As is standard, all records pertaining to these remains were destroyed. Parnell wrapped the remains with the effects and held them overnight. Prior to the identification of his remains, Blassie was the unknown service member from the Vietnam War buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Signaling its determination to have its Vietnam Unknown, the Pentagon gave Webb six months to make a positive ID of X-26. ", 1998 The Associated Press. When they came back, they handed Michael Blassies remains toCalhoon. Resend Activation Email. DNA tests confirmed that the previously unknown soldier was, in fact, Michael Blassie. DNA is also stored in tiny, energy-producing structures in the cells, called mitochondria. . Over fifty countries would end up building similar memorials. However, analysis at the time suggested that the remains were not a compelling match to Blassie's age and height. . They had no way of knowing the remains so caringly committed to the Tomb were that of their son and brother. Jean Blassie holds a photo of her son Michael Blassie while seated in the living room of her apartment in Florissant, on May 2, 1998. One of the most memorable actors ever almost gave it up to be an Air Force pilot. The Blassie family watches as their family member Michael, is unloaded from a C-130 Hercules cargo plane, July 10. Improvements in evacuation, recordkeeping, and forensic science meant that almost all US remains recovered from combat zones were identified. (eds): Last edited on 17 February 2023, at 18:50, "Soldier In Tomb Of Unknowns May Actually Be Known", "The Vietnam Unknown Soldier Can Be Identified", "Defense.gov News Article: Vietnam Unknown's Medal of Honor Transfer Denied", "The Evolution of the Tomb of the Unknowns", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Blassie&oldid=1139961298, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 18:50. Defense Secretary William Cohen announced that the remains would be disinterred and the DNA tested. I dont know any of them. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Michael Blassie (4245)? The American memorial is especially beautiful. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. The year after Michael Blassies death, Congress directed the Department of Defense to select the remains of an Unknown Vietnam servicemember to be interred in Arlington National Cemeterys Tomb of the Unknown. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, as of this writing, there are still 1,584 US service members unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. His sister, Pat Blassie, was 10 years younger than her brother, but she remembered he started working as a kid by selling newspapers on the street corner. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Jump to: Bio graphy Family Photos Comments Obit uary. Search above to list available cemeteries. When it came to tracking MIAs, Sampley was shrewd and tireless. She and her four children met to try to figure out what to do. President Ronald Reagan bestowed the Medal of Honor upon the Vietnam unknown. DNA identification had yet to advance to its current state when Blassie's remains were repatriated, and he lay in the Tomb of the Unknowns up to 1998, with visitors paying respects but unaware of his identity. Captain Parnell wrapped the remains, and the other items found at the crash site, in plastic and held them overnight. Its like the reverse of this 99pi story! Everyone was free to mourn in their own way. She attended Wellston High School but left after three years to work as a nurses aide at DePaul Hospital. A decade later, however, questions began to arise about the identity of this unknown soldier. Love each and every podcast . Over 130,000 NVA with their tanks and artillery swept into South Vietnam along three separate fronts, from the DMZ to Saigon. Verify and try again. Every recovered American service member killed in action since the Vietnam War has been identified and buried. Make sure that the file is a photo. She was 90 and had been a longtime Florissant resident before moving to Mary Queen and Mother Center in St. Louis. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. & Spitz, D.J. Last chance! The report triggered a speedy response from the Department of Defense which, after its own investigation, ordered the Tomb to be opened and the Vietnam Unknowns remains to undergo DNA testing at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Morphological approximation presumed that one could determine personal characteristics like age and height by careful examination of bone fragments. Add to your scrapbook. memorial page for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie (4 Apr 1948-11 May 1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 4245, citing Jefferson Barracks National . The name he read on the ID card was Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie. The Air Force told the Blassie family in St. Louis all they knew: their son had been killed in action, but his remains could not be recovered since he went down in enemy-held territory. It represents all soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. Please reset your password. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. By 1994, Patricia had risen from Airman Basic to Captain and was working in the Pentagon in Public Affairs. When family members received word that his remains might be buried in the Tomb of the Unknown, they petitioned the Department of Defense to open the site and conduct previously unavailable DNA testing. But I know each one had a life worth living. Dont let my viewpoint sully your experience. Blassie was laid to rest beneath lush bluegrass in the cemetery's oldest section, established in 1826 alongside the original military post. Veteran Dispatch. Michael Blassie in his Air Force Academy cadet uniform. There is a problem with your email/password. Blassie was born in St. Louis in 1948. Baracus on "The A-Team," Mr. T was a member of the biggest team of them all -- the U.S "I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being Copyright 2023 Military.com. Michael Blassie The Final Mission. memorial page for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie (4 Apr 1948-11 May 1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 4245, citing Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay . "The resting place of Michael was for so long the Tomb of the Unknowns," Rigali said. The Romans were fond of honoring them with an empty sarcophagus. Members of Blassie's family could not be reached immediately for comment yesterday. Please enter valid email address to continue. He died in 1991. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Your playlist is stored within your cookies, clearing your browser data may remove your playlist. In 1976, they were shipped to Hawaii to be analyzed by the Armys Central Identification Laboratory (CIL-HI). For 14 years, the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie lay beneath the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington. She was sad about Michaels death but was happy to have him back, Patricia Blassie said. No one wanted to inter someone who might eventually be identified. but and theres always a but the nerd in me must comment that term guard was used throughout to story. In 1984, on Memorial Day, Blassie's remains - four ribs, pelvis and the upper part of an arm - were buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington. For the past year, Pat Blassie crusaded for the disinterment, convinced that recent evidence - including Blassie's wallet and dog tags found near the crash site - suggested the remains were those of her brother. In Michaels case, just this once, their mission was completed. No one knows how many remains from Vietnam and elsewhere were buried in the wrong graves because of these flawed identification procedures. There was an error deleting this problem. During my only visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns, during the changing of the guard, I witnessed what may be a rare event. They denied it. Im curious how the remains werent identifiable as Michael Blassie if he was the only remaining unidentified serviceman from the war. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}. The last day we took him to the airport, Michael looked back at us and waved. East wind * around 10 mph. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. For me the one with the most incredible presentation would have to be in Athens, Greece. Air Force jets fly over Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery during the burial of Lt. Michael Blassie, July 11. But perhaps Im speaking out of turn. Michael Joseph Blassie, the oldest of five children of a St. Louis meat cutter, entered the Air Force Academy in 1966 and received his officer's commission in June 1970. Trailing the procession were Vietnam veterans, comparatively disheveled with beards, long hair, and jungle fatigues. Pressure began to mount in Washington to place a service member from Vietnam in the tomb of the unknowns, but by 1980 the Blassie remains were the only ones left that hadnt been conclusively identified. Out of the fog of war comes another version of the incident, one in which Michaels Dragonfly inverts upside down, and Michael ejects from the stricken aircraft. That simple, tragic explanation would be the only one that Blassies parents ever heard for 26 years. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford elunsford@post-dispatch.com. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. An Army caisson carried his casket from the Capitol to the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 28, 1984. well, that was simply too much to believe. You have permission to edit this article. The Armed Forces have adopted the latest advances in fingerprint and dental identification, and forensic anthropology and radiology. Michael, after all, was her first born. Michael Sorkin is a reporter at the Post-Dispatch. He was constantly researching, protesting, and pressuring the Pentagon to resolve open cases. By taking towns and cities in the South, the North Vietnamese sought to gain territory and improve their bargaining position at the Paris Peace talks underway. The DNA technology that could conclusively identify the remains was just around the corner, but in 1984 they were ordered to prepare X-26 for burial. After the Civil War, the Union buried 2,111 soldiers in a mass grave in Arlington that they purposely built in the middle of Robert E. Lees rose garden. By the time his mother found out where he was, his remains were entombed in the Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington. Four low-flying F-15s flew overhead, with one pulling out of formation in a missing man salute. He related his story of wrapping the remains, with the dog tags, in plastic. An honor guard was fired a 21-gun salute and F-15 Eagle fighters flew overhead in the "missing man" formation as Blassie was buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis in a ceremony presided over by the eldest sibling, Pat Blassie, a captain in the Air Force Reserve. [3][4] A CBS News report in January 1998 subsequently made the same claim. Yet he was found five months after he was shot down and then buried without our knowledge in the Tomb of the Unknowns. Human beings have copies of DNA from each biological parent, stored in the nucleus of every cell. display: none; Flying at a low altitude to drop napalm, he would have been propelled into the ground. On May 14, 1998, the Department of the Defense disinterred the remains of the Vietnam veteran from the Tomb of the Unknowns. The test results showed a match with DNA samples from Jean Blassie and her oldest daughter. The date, location of the crash, bone fragments from the body and remnants of his flight suit and parachute led to the conclusion that it was Michael. The remains were exhumed in May; DNA tests that were not available 26 years ago confirmed the remains were Blassie's. It sits at the top of a hill that overlooks the rest of Arlington Cemetery. Visit the digital memorial page of Veteran Michael Joseph Blassie where you can share stories, photos, biographies, obituaries, tributes and more. The Pentagon had kept them in the dark, probably with the good intention of not getting the familys hopes up until Michaels identity could be confirmed. They married in 1947 and had five children. The file that Vince discovered made it clear the the person who had been put in the tomb in 1984 had been far from unknown. The Vietnam crypt of the Tomb of the Unknown, the one that contained Michael Blassies remains, has been empty since the exhumation on May 14, 1998. All rights reserved. Your email address will not be published. No other MIA or KIA even remotely near the An Lc location would have possessed a life raft, parachute, and pistol holster. Check out member benefits and perks . They were a match and Michael Blassies remains were returned to his family. Then, in January 1972, he joined the 8th Special Operations Squadron of the 377th Air Base Wing at Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon. I signed up the next day. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. Of those, 470 are considered non-recoverable. That is, death has been determined, but no remains can be recovered. DNA testing was in its infancy in 1972. . Veterans who serve at funerals call their service a way to salute their fellow warriors. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford elunsford@post-dispatch.com Jean Blassie lost. On March 21, 1984, Webb reluctantly signed. Blassies was A positive. Gonzales began filing FOIA requests and eventually got back a thick envelope with military documents showing the entire process of the Unknown Soldier selection process. After Years As Vietnam 'Unknown,' Pilot Now Buried At Home. The ARVN turned the remains and the other crash site items over to Captain William C. Parnell, who was then serving as an operations officer at An Loc. It wasnt until World War I that it occurred to anyone to bury a single unknown soldier in a public setting. They may have received last rights, families informed, etc, but the rest of us know little about those individuals. They talked to anyone they could find who was involved in the unknown selection process, and when they felt they were ready, they handed over their findings to Patricia Blassie. Articles in U.S. Failed to delete memorial. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. . The remains were reclassified as unknown when their projected age and height were judged not to match Blassie's.[1]. In celebration of the Marine Corps' birthday, Military.com has put together this Marine Corps history quiz. The Blassie family watches as their family member Michael, is unloaded from a C-130 Hercules cargo plane, July 10. He was convinced the government wasnt telling veterans everything it knew, and he was calling Patricia Blassie with an outlandish theory about Michaels death. There, a plaque holds words from the Gettysburg Address: "We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow this ground. Michael Blassie received an appointment to the Air Force and fell in love with flying immediately. f\j Weather. Institute staff later reported their surprise when they opened the casket to retrieve the DNA and saw the crash-site artifacts Major Johnie Webb had enclosed with the remains back in 1984. Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results Michael Joseph Blassie (1948 - 1972) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days How do we create a person's profile? One of Calhoons duties, in the midst of all this chaos, was to call in airstrikes. He was shot down and killed while piloting his A-37B Dragonfly aircraft in the vicinity of An Loc, in South Vietnam. After Blassie's family secured permission, the remains of Blassie were exhumed on May 14, 1998. Sampley told them that remains had been discovered near Michaels crash site, along with items belonging to an Air Force pilot. I missed the names of the two announcers who discussed the Arlington Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument and chuckled together over some of the changing of the guard ceremony and sentry duties. Morphological approximation, worthless though it was, provided quick answers and a veneer of scientific validation. Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect Blassie, a 24-year-old first lieutenant, had been missing since May 11, 1972, when his A-37 fighter was shot down over An Loc during a bombing run. He was made one., Whenever Patricias mother received criticism for requesting Michaels removal from the Tomb of the Unknown, she would simply shrug and say, Hes not your son.. Please try again later. Think you're a Top Gun at aircraft identification? That's where he fell in love with flying, Pat Blassie said. Hurtful also were the objections she and her family received from Vietnam veterans, who resented the Blassies for taking away their Unknown. Blassie died when his A-37B Dragonfly was shot down near An Lc in what was then South Vietnam. You grow apart sometimes during this kind of tragedy. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Even the thought that remains had been discovered near the crash site seemed preposterous. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The Flag: Revd David Railton MC and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Excerpts and links to latest episodes and articles, Periodic, exclusive updates on 99PI goings-on. With DNA identification being used and hearing that there are no unknowns from Vietnam and that they are working currently on unknowns from the Korean war, I though, How wonderful that there will never again be an unknown soldier, everyone will be eventually brought home. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). The music is an original piece by our talented composer, Sean Real. A seven-month CBS News investigation has revealed, reported correspondent Eric Engberg, that the identity of the unknown serviceman is almost certainly known, and that some military officials, for whatever reason, knew it all along and tried to hide it.. In addition, a single strand of hair found in the flight suit yielded an estimated blood type O negative. In 1998 the Tomb of the Unknown was opened and the remains of the Vietnam Unknownidentified as X-26were removed. Mike always knew what he wanted, I didnt. 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