At least he went into a place of honor.. But in 1956, one small, seemingly innocent change to the formula of the Unknown would prove problematic: we began to add another set of unidentified remains for every subsequent war. (2006): Identification of Human Remains. Over 130,000 NVA with their tanks and artillery swept into South Vietnam along three separate fronts, from the DMZ to Saigon. Resend Activation Email. Of those, 470 are considered non-recoverable. That is, death has been determined, but no remains can be recovered. based on information from your browser. After Years As Vietnam 'Unknown,' Pilot Now Buried At Home. He had been shot down near An Loc, Vietnam, in 1972.. Weve updated the security on the site. Every recovered American service member killed in action since the Vietnam War has been identified and buried. 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. Its conceivable that they could soon use the same techniques on the unknown serviceman inside the tomb. But the evidence that they were Blassie's was too slim, so the designation was removed in 1979. The Easter Offensive was the largest and most conventional ground invasion of the Vietnam War. Om 1992, the Defense Department started collecting and holding blood samples from all inductees for possible future DNA comparisons. 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. After the war, Railton advocated for a grave bearing the body of a single soldier to bring the impossibly large tragedy down to a human scale. Then, according to Webb, the Pentagon issued a second order: destroy any evidence linking file X-26 to Michael Blassie, including the personal artifacts from the crash site. Defense Secretary William Cohen announced that the remains would be disinterred and the DNA tested. I find meaning in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument. After Blassie's family secured permission . The email does not appear to be a valid email address. (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. Two weeks after the offensive began, combined NVA and Viet Cong forces laid siege to the provincial capital of An Lc, located 100km north of Saigon. 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. 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. The unknowns from World War I and World War II are another story for now, but anything is possible. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Michael Blassie (4245)? The remains were exhumed in May; DNA tests that were not available 26 years ago confirmed the remains were Blassie's. USAF Honor Guard with Michael Blassies casket, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (SSgt Scott Seyer/USAF). Drag images here or select from your computer for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie memorial. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. After petitioning the United States Government for permission, his family had his body exhumed. They were a match and Michael Blassies remains were returned to his family. It can represent all soldiers. Michael Blassies squadron was providing that air support over An Loc. 0 cemeteries found in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA. They saw the identification of Michaels remains as a loss for them. Process of elimination might sounded like it could have worked, until you take in account of the 2000+ MIA service members in that war. Prior to the identification of his remains, Blassie was the unknown service member . This is a carousel with slides. I dont care what happened, but the documents showed that patrol went into Michaels crash site to find him, and they did. Placing a Medal of Honor on X-26s flag-draped casket, the President concluded, Thank you, dear son, and may God cradle you in his loving arms.. Michaels missions took him all over Vietnam, but the most dangerous was arguably over a place called An Loc, a town about 50 miles north of Saigon. Michael Blassie later received an appointment to the Air Force Academy. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Blassie, who was killed in Vietnam. The remains would eventually arrive at the Armys Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, but not before thewallet which was critical in linking the remains to Blassie went missing. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Dad set up a little memorial in the basement and would go down there all the time and just sit., When something like this happens in a family, [it] can bring a family together or tear it apart. 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. Privacy Policy & Terms of Service. Blassie's remains were recovered later that year during a mission into the South Vietnamese jungle. 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. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. 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. But thanks to improved battlefield evacuation tactics, the Vietnam War produced only four sets of unidentified remains that could potentially go into the tomb. In order for the X-26 remains to be interred in the Tomb of the Unknown, Webb had to sign a statement confirming that they would never be identified. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Failed to remove flower. Michael Blassie received an appointment to the Air Force and fell in love with flying immediately. Pete Mecca is a speaker, author, and Vietnam Air Force veteran who runs VeteransArticle.com and hosts VBCs A Veterans Story every second Thursday online. The nature of combat in Vietnam and advances in forensic medicine had made it difficult for officials to bury a Vietnam unknown. DNA testing was in its infancy in 1972. Required fields are marked *, 99% Invisible Blassie's remains, which had been buried in the Tomb of the . Michael, after all, was her first born. It represents all soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us. On May 11, Communist forces unleashed an all-out assault to take An Lc. Id also remind them that Michael was never an Unknown Soldier. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Please try again later. Michael Blassies skeletal chart, VBC Happy Hour screenshot, 2021. By no means, the office reported back, is there anything to substantiate that your brother is in the Tomb of the Unknown.. It was so exciting," she says. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. One British chaplain named David Railton saw some of the worst of the fighting on the front lines. 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. He was shot down and killed while piloting his A-37B Dragonfly aircraft in the vicinity of An Loc, in South Vietnam. Michael was no longer Unknown. "X-26" remained in Arlington with his unknown comrades, watched by the solemn Old Guard, until 1998, when new questions about Blassie's whereabouts surfaced. The guards coming on duty are inspected for perfection in uniform, and inspector found some problem with the new guards blouse. In 1983, Congress and the Reagan administration, under pressure from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, agreed to move the remains of X-26 into the Tomb of the Unknown as a healing gesture for a country still traumatized by the Vietnam War. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. Im curious how the remains werent identifiable as Michael Blassie if he was the only remaining unidentified serviceman from the war. They must have never actually been there. Love your show. He died in 1991. \ . 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie Birth 4 Apr 1948 Saint Louis, St. Louis City, Missouri, USA Death 11 May 1972 (aged 24) Bnh Long, Bnh Phc, Vietnam Memorial Site* National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA Show Map * A structure erected in honor of someone whose remains lie elsewhere. On 11 May 1972 the city of An Loc SVN was under attack by North Vietnamese forces during the so-called Spring Offensive. Based on mitochondrial DNA testing . Blassie was killed during the Vietnam war in 1972 and his remains were entombed in the Tomb of the Unknowns. Unlike nuclear DNA, each cell carries more than a hundred copies of mtDNA, since each cell contains many mitochondria but only one nucleus. 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. . Your email address will not be published. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. In honor of the Coast Guard's birthday, we've put together a quiz on the service's history and traditions. There, a plaque holds words from. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. "The resting place of Michael was for so long the Tomb of the Unknowns," Rigali said. Blassie was buried Saturday with full military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. 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. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. She was 90 and had been a longtime Florissant resident before moving to Mary Queen and Mother Center in St. Louis. The goal was to schedule the ceremony before Election Day 1984, which is why Memorial Day, rather than Veterans Day, was selected. Human beings have copies of DNA from each biological parent, stored in the nucleus of every cell. Oops, something didn't work. Family members linked to this person will appear here. 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. Sorry! He served as a Tactical Aircraft Pilot and was assigned to the 8TH SPECIAL OPS SQDN, 377TH AIR BASE WING, 7TH AF. Updated: June 21, 2016 . But Mrs. Blassie also had a hunch. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. DNA is also stored in tiny, energy-producing structures in the cells, called mitochondria. But instead of giving closure, the remains endured one of the most baffling episodes of misidentification in military history. For Pat Blassie, Michael's sister, the once unknown soldier still is a symbol for the country. "We were all so proud of him. Hurtful also were the objections she and her family received from Vietnam veterans, who resented the Blassies for taking away their Unknown. A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Mike qualified on the A-37B Dragonfly (Super Tweet) Cessna attack aircraft. I dont know any of them. Eli Lilly to cut insulin prices by 70%, cap monthly costs at $35 Five months after the shoot down an Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) patrol inspected the crash site and retrieved partial skeletal remains, an ID card, dog tags, a wallet containing a family picture, part of a flight suit, and the remnant of a pistol holster. 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. The dedication alone attracted so many mourners, the line for viewing lasted ten days. Feel free to, By submitting this form, you acknowledge that you have read the, The city of An Loc was totally leveled it looked like Hiroshima, I thought this is the best example of internet conspiracy garbage Ive seen to date,. On Memorial Day 1984, the remains of a soldier killed during the Vietnam War were laid to rest in the Tomb of the Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery. Try again later. And so it would have remained if a rookie CBS reporter named Vince Gonzalez hadnt run across Sampleys article about Blassie on the Internet. Today, there is no body representing Vietnam at the tomb of the unknowns. He was convinced the government wasnt telling veterans everything it knew, and he was calling Patricia Blassie with an outlandish theory about Michaels death. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. That was enough for Captain Patricia Blassie. 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