Now that DNA samples are taken from everyone who joins the U.S. Armed Forces, there may never be another American "unknown soldier.". On July 10, 1998, Michael Blassie's body was released to his family. Serving as next-of-kid, President Ronald Reagan received the folded flag and made brief remarks. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Mourners are grateful for their extra effort. 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.. Michael Blassie received an appointment to the Air Force and fell in love with flying immediately. Your email address will not be published. The government does not have the right to keep such information from the family., When I looked into all the documents and from my personal research, it was obvious that improper decisions were being made, and all of sudden Michael is the Unknown representing the missing from the Vietnam War. But not all remains can be identified with such methods. Survivors, in addition to her daughter Patricia, include a son, George Blassie of St. Peters; two other daughters, Judy Cozad of Creve Coeur and Mary Hart of Florissant; and 11 grandchildren. In part, because the formula was so easy to follow all that was needed was the body of a single unknown soldier. Joseph Michael Leo Findlan Obituary. A system error has occurred. Blassie, 24, an Air Force Academy graduate and the oldest of the five children of a St. Louis meat cutter, was flying an A-37 when he was shot down over An Loc, about 60 miles north of Saigon in South Vietnam, on May 11, 1972. The soldiers anonymity would allow each person who came to the grave to project whatever was most important to them onto the mystery. Captain Parnell wrapped the remains, and the other items found at the crash site, in plastic and held them overnight. I find meaning in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument. Your playlist is stored within your cookies, clearing your browser data may remove your playlist. It was a South Vietnamese Army patrol that scoured the crash site and came back with six bone fragments, a Beacon radio, two compasses, an American flag, a parachute, remnants of a pistol holder, a one-man life raft, fragments of a flight suit, a wallet with family pictures, and an ID that read: 1st Lt. Blassie, Michael Joseph., Air Force equipment found with Michael Blassie: dog tag chain fragment, signal marker pouch, match holder, parachute survival guide, and ammunition pouch (Blassie family). (AP Photo/Brian K. Diggs), In thisJune, 30, 1998, photo,Joan Blassie, right, the mother of the Michael Blassie reacts to the news that the remains in the Tomb of Unknowns were confirmed by DNA testing as belonging to her son Lt. Michael Blassie, who was shot down over Vietnam. The American memorial is especially beautiful. Michael Joseph Blassie was a United States Air Force officer who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in May 1972. Jump to: Bio graphy Family Photos Comments Obit uary. Unidentified remains from that war had been analyzed over a decade and a half. On March 21, 1984, Webb reluctantly signed. They detailed that Michael Blassies remains had been recovered in Vietnam and that the person who recovered them was Chris Calhoon. To Army scientists, these findings superseded any other evidence, such as documents or personal effects. As an Unknown, Michael Blassies bone fragments were put in storage at the Hawaii laboratory. "We write no last chapters, we close no books," Reagan said. Vacant, it will likely remain. The chain of custody began with Captain William C. Parnell, an operations officer at An Lc. He was convinced the government wasnt telling veterans everything it knew, and he was calling Patricia Blassie with an outlandish theory about Michaels death. Test your Navy knowledge with this Navy history quiz by Military.com. Members of the Air Force honor guard carry the casket containing the remains of Lt. Michael Blassie into a hearse at Scott Air Force Base on Friday, July 10, 1998. Michael Blassie was therefore ruled out as a possible match. display: none; The test results showed a match with DNA samples from Jean Blassie and her oldest daughter. All Rights Reserved. DNA tests confirmed that the previously unknown soldier was, in fact, Michael Blassie. "This shrine was still distant from his house, the soil of Missouri, the banks of the Mississippi. It was on one of these bombing runs, shortly before Calhoon arrived in An Loc, that Michael Blassie flew his 132th and final mission. In World War I there were around 1,648 Unknowns, in World War II there were 8,526, the Korean war there were 848. Plot Over the next month, enemy forces cinched the noose, pounding the city with artillery and attempting to starve out the population. The aircraft flew a short distance on its own and then slowly rolled over, exploding on impact in enemy-held territory. After nearly two decades of uncertainty, the family of Blassie can finally reveal the empty crypt in which the men and women who served in Vietnam were buried, as well as the flag that was once flown over it. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Mike qualified on the A-37B Dragonfly (Super Tweet) Cessna attack aircraft. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. This browser does not support getting your location. AFDIL has used DNA analysis to identify the remains of at least 150 military personnel from Vietnam, Korea, and World War 2, and assisted in the identification of victims from high profile disasters, both natural and man-made. "He's still serving today because he now represents those that need to come home," she said. When Britain dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey in 1920, it garnered a lot of attention. At first, there were a lot of Unknowns to work with. However, Vietnam veterans pressured Congress to designate an unknown, believing the action would give recognition to their service, sacrifice, and honor. On March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) launched a massive surprise attack on the South. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. That simple, tragic explanation would be the only one that Blassies parents ever heard for 26 years. Blassie was laid to rest beneath lush bluegrass in the cemetery's oldest section, established in 1826 alongside the original military post. I know about Ted Sampleys past, he told her, but I believe its true.. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. A hunch told him there might be something to Sampleys claims, and he began his own investigation. The name he read on the ID card was Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie. Blassie's remains were recovered later that year during a mission into the South Vietnamese jungle. (She would retire in 2018 as a full-bird Colonel). Jean Frances Blassie died 15 years later, on Tuesday (June 11, 2013), at Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur. During a tour of Vietnam, he served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron. Revealing the Unknown: The Mystery of Michael Blassie | Missouri Historical Society 1st Lt. Michael Blassie was killed in action during the Vietnam War, but his remains were unrecovered because the fighting was so intense in the area where his plane crashed. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. Then, as more information about those remains was discovered, only one set of remains remained unknown. Failed to delete memorial. The Unknown Soldier can be about more than a dwindling subclass of soldiers that disappeared without record. On July 11, 1998, 1st Lt. Michael Blassie was buried with full military honors in Jefferson National Cemetery, Missouri, near his hometown, in the same cemetery as his father. In celebration of the Marine Corps' birthday, Military.com has put together this Marine Corps history quiz. He must have been killed instantly since he did not transmit a distress call of any kind. That was enough for Captain Patricia Blassie. In addition, a single strand of hair found in the flight suit yielded an estimated blood type O negative. World War II, Korea, and Vietnam each would get their own Unknown. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. President Reagan presided over the funeral and presented the Medal of Honor to the Vietnam Unknown. We want the truth, we want to bring him home. And you didnt mention the shoes the specially designed shoes the sentries wear are pretty cool. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4245/michael-joseph-blassie. Jean Blassie lost her son twice. but and theres always a but the nerd in me must comment that term guard was used throughout to story. Im a former Soldier from Australia, and a Tour Guide around Europe, and i immediately thought of all the different changing of the guards, and unknown Tombs i have visited. We believe Michael would have been proud of how we pulled together to bring him home. Everyone was free to mourn in their own way. In my 17-year-old mind, that sounded like a good deal.. On July 10, Blassie's remains were transported to his family in St. Louis, and were later reinterred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. In Michaels case, just this once, their mission was completed. No other MIA or KIA even remotely near the An Lc location would have possessed a life raft, parachute, and pistol holster. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. "We put away no final memories.". At 67, Mrs. Blassie went back to work as a sales clerk at Dillards. "He and. "Mike lived a hero, and he came home a hero," said Emanuel Cassimatis, the Air Force Academy liaison officer who recruited Blassie in 1965. The saga of the Vietnam crypt of the Tomb of the Unknown is perhaps the darkest chapter of the US Department of Defenses long-running effort to account for POW/MIAs. Five months later, during a sweep of the area, a South Vietnamese Army patrol recovered a pelvis, an upper arm bone, and some ribs, as well as the remnants of a flight suit, a life raft, pieces of a parachute, and part of a USAF holster. Michael's younger sister, Patricia Blassie, was seven years old when her big brother with the gentle smile left for the Air Force Academy in 1966. We wanted the entire truth, but they couldnt tell us that., The official designation was KIABNRKilled in Action, Body not Recovered., My father served in Normandy during World War II and he never got over losing Michael, Patricia recalls. They married in 1947 and had five children. "The resting place of Michael was for so long the Tomb of the Unknowns," Rigali said. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. After petitioning the United States Government for permission, his family had his body exhumed. The Army lab in Hawaii removed the BTB designation and, through a later discredited technique called morphological approximation, declared Michael Blassies remains as belonging to Unknown.. That they all made the ultimate sacrifice for me. The timely and accurate identification of men and women who die while serving in the armed forces has long been a priority for the United States government. It didnt matter if you wanted to honor all those who served or merely those who died, those who volunteered or those who were drafted, or even whether you were for the war or against it. display: block; After his remains were identified by DNA testing in 1998, they were reburied at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis County, Missouri. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Michael Blassie (4245)? CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat" Id left school early that day, and I looked out the window when I heard a car door slam. The remains were eventually sent to a search and recovery center in Thailand before being forwarded to the Army's central identification lab in Hawaii. His jet lost a wing, crashed and burned. The accompanying shells found their mark. Britains unknown warrior wasnt the only one. Over fifty countries would end up building similar memorials. On Friday, Family and friends gathered to welcome his return at Scott Air Force Base, near Blassie's hometown of Florissant, Mo., a St. Louis suburb. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Learn more about merges. ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. But they had also brought back other evidence: an uninflated raft, a parachute, part of Michaels flight suit, and critically: his wallet with pictures of him and his family. First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie, 24, was shot down over South Vietnam in 1972 and presumed dead. Sampley had come across some second-hand accounts suggesting that Americas only set of unknown remains from Vietnam had been recovered from an aircraft that had been shot down in 1972. There was an error deleting this problem. 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. A neighbor came over to get me, saying, Pat, you need to go inside. So I did and knew something was horribly wrong. No one doubted his commitment to the cause of POW/MIAs. His remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of The Unknowns as an unidentified soldier from the Vietnam War. He was constantly researching, protesting, and pressuring the Pentagon to resolve open cases. The recruiters said if I joined the Air Force, Id travel, get excellent training,and an education. Then, in January 1972, he joined the 8th Special Operations Squadron of the 377th Air Base Wing at Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon. Silver StarDistinguished Flying CrossPurple HeartAir Medal & 4 Oak Leaf Clusters (OLC)Killed In Action, Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. I saluted smartly and put the thought aside. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. 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. Everything about the war not only the numbers, but the nature of it was dehumanizing, says Robert Poole, author of the book On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. We have set your language to Michael flew as an Air Commando, probably running covert missions into Laos and Cambodia, in addition to his official duties as forward air controller and counterinsurgency operations pilot in South Vietnam. During a memorial service Friday evening at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, Blassie was remembered as a courageous young man who fought for peace. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). The enemy threw up what was described as a murderous hail of fire which prevented any rescue or recovery attempt. During my only visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns, during the changing of the guard, I witnessed what may be a rare event. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. Jean Blassie, mother of 1st Lt. Michael Blassie, 1998. Thats when a Vietnam veteran and former Green Beret named Ted Sampley called Patricias mother out of the blue. Four low-flying F-15s flew overhead, with one pulling out of formation in a missing man salute. And he had only been able to find one missing plane that fully matched the planes description: Michael Blassies. But Mrs. Blassie also had a hunch. His body wouldnt be coming home. Become a member of the Veterans Breakfast Club for only $36/year! Though discovered in South Vietnam at the crash site, along with personal effects and survival gear, the remains of US Air Force pilot 1st Lt. Michael Blassie got labeled Unknown. It took the hard work of an eccentric Vietnam veteran activist, an investigative reporter, and the Blassie family to cut through years of bureaucratic bungling, official stonewalling, and government deceit to rescue Blassie from the Tomb and bring him home. With the conflicting information between the forensic analysis and the physical evidence, the remains were designated as "Unknown" and assigned the number "X-26.". They interviewed Parnell, by then a retired Colonel living in Florida. Process of elimination might sounded like it could have worked, until you take in account of the 2000+ MIA service members in that war. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford elunsford@post-dispatch.com. Family and friends are welcome to send flowers or leave their condolences on . GREAT NEWS! Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. They brought him home for burial in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near St. Louis. I think that barring a complete abolition of war, this is a small consolation. Webb devised an ingenious solution: hide the crash-site artifacts where no one would ever find them, in the casket with the remains of X-26. Those vacuum-sealed samples now number some 8 million, sitting ready for a self-reference analysis in case of battlefield death. Prior to the identification of his remains, Blassie was the unknown service member . By 1994, Patricia had risen from Airman Basic to Captain and was working in the Pentagon in Public Affairs. We wanted to know the rest of the story. Air Force jets fly over Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery during the burial of Lt. Michael Blassie, July 11. It was so exciting, she says. She grew bitter and even considered quitting the service. DNA is also stored in tiny, energy-producing structures in the cells, called mitochondria. But the evidence that they were Blassie's was too slim, so the designation was removed in 1979. Try again. But for whatever reason, the first bad decision was not telling the family. Western reporters called it a mini-Stalingrad, the ugliest kind of siege warfare. And they never learned the truth: that their son Michaels remains were discovered some five months after his death. 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. It can represent all soldiers. Sampley told them that remains had been discovered near Michaels crash site, along with items belonging to an Air Force pilot. Immediate recovery attempts were launched, but Blassie had crashed in an area controlled by enemy forces so it was impossible to examine the crash site. Her father died in a traffic accident when she was 9 or 10. By the time the package arrived in Hawaii, the wallet and ID were missing, presumed stolen during storage or transit. Remains identification bordered on guesswork. }, First published on July 10, 1998 / 4:49 PM. Dubbed the "super-tweet . It was all part of the effort to make sure that the Unknown could represent everyone who ever fought in the war. American serviceman who remained behind were stretched thin. Following the removal of Blassie's remains from the Tomb of the Unknowns, the slab marking "Vietnam" over the crypt that once held his remains was replaced with one that read "Honoring and Keeping Faith with America's Missing Servicemen",[7] as it was decided that the Vietnam crypt would remain a vacant cenotaph. There they would rest for eight years in a file labeled X-26 until their date with destiny arrived. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. He told her that he had been researching who was shot down on the date of Michaels death and he believed that her brothers remains were in the Tomb of the Unknowns. I want to bring my son home.. After Blassie's family secured permission, the remains of Blassie were exhumed on May 14, 1998. [5] On June 30, 1998, the Defense Department announced that the Vietnam Unknown had been identified. Interestingly, the soldiers identities *were* known and the Danes made an effort to give each soldier his last rites. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { But the military didnt tell anyone, officials later explained, because they said they couldnt be certain that it was he. Please try again later. Please enter valid email address to continue. Jean Blassie dies; she fought to get her son buried at home in St. Louis. Calhoon assumed that Michaels remains would be returning to his family. She attended Wellston High School but left after three years to work as a nurses aide at DePaul Hospital. Jean Blassie, center, mother of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie, and his sister Patricia, right, now an Air Force colonel, talk with reporters at Arlington National Cemetery on May 14,. 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. A helicopter team tried to get to the crash site, but due to heavy enemy fire, they had to leave after just a few minutes empty-handed. 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. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) differs from nuclear DNA because human beings inherit mtDNA solely from the mother and share this information with siblings and maternal relatives. The aircraft went down in flames. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. I assume now he was meaning in America but i immediately thought to other Countries national Monuments. (AP Photo/James A. Finley), Lt. Michael J. Blassie is shown in this undated 1971 file photo made during flight training. Actually, they had his remains and his military I.D. 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