After graduating from St. Louis University High School he entered the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1970. Jean Blassie lost her son twice. At 67, Mrs. Blassie went back to work as a sales clerk at Dillards. The bones were taken to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, where officials said they were "believed to be" those of Blassie. Michael, after all, was her first born. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. In Michaels case, just this once, their mission was completed. well, that was simply too much to believe. That crypt would remain empty for over a decade. 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. English 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. Last chance! Michael Joseph Blassie was born on April 4, 1948. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. #HonorVeterans #VetLegacies. But thanks to improved battlefield evacuation tactics, the Vietnam War produced only four sets of unidentified remains that could potentially go into the tomb. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. When they came back, they handed Michael Blassies remains toCalhoon. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. Human beings have copies of DNA from each biological parent, stored in the nucleus of every cell. There, a plaque holds words from. No one doubted his commitment to the cause of POW/MIAs. CBS Evening News went public with the explosive story in a broadcast on January 19, 1998. George, the youngest son, said that being buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns was a great honor and that maybe the family should leave Michael there. But the evidence that they were Blassie's was too slim, so the designation was removed in 1979. Dubbed the super-tweet it was designed to fly low over its target. 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. That day changed the Blassie family forever, she says. 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. Prior to the identification of his remains, Blassie was the unknown service member . 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. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? How to honor unidentified remains has always been one of the great conundrums of war. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. One British chaplain named David Railton saw some of the worst of the fighting on the front lines. They saw the identification of Michaels remains as a loss for them. Over the next month, enemy forces cinched the noose, pounding the city with artillery and attempting to starve out the population. Many Vietnam veterans, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan visited Blassie as he lay in state in the U.S. Capitol. Then, in January 1972, he joined the 8th Special Operations Squadron of the 377th Air Base Wing at Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon. In October of 1972, over five months after Blassies plane had disappeared into the jungle, Calhoon assembled a South Vietnamese patrol to enter North Vietnamese territory to find the wreckage. There were fewer than 25,000 US servicemen left in Vietnam, as opposed to the over 500,000 who had been deployed by the late 1960s. While supplies last, you can get an author-signed 99% Invisible uses cookies to help improve your user experience. The Romans were fond of honoring them with an empty sarcophagus. I dont know any of them. . She took on the military, won, and brought him back for burial in his hometown of St. Louis. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. He subsequently qualified as an A-37 Dragonfly pilot and served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, deployed to Southeast Asia. There was an error deleting this problem. Family members linked to this person will appear here. The pressures of war put a premium on closing cases and moving on, getting the job done even if that meant rushing lab reports. 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. 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. He knew morphological approximation was a flawed identification technique, and he suspected that someday, X-26 might be identified, especially given the personal effects and documents associated with the bone fragments. Blassie's mother, three sisters and brother each carried small American flags during the service. At the request of Blassie's family, the Department of Defense exhumed the remains from the Vietnam Unknown's crypt on May 14, 1998. If he couldnt do it, Webb would be ordered to sign off on the burial. On the other, if he destroyed Blassies personal effects, he might condemn Blassies remains to permanent oblivion. You grow apart sometimes during this kind of tragedy. Try again later. For me the one with the most incredible presentation would have to be in Athens, Greece. Based on mitochondrial DNA testing . She stood strong, did what was right and led the family.. Blassies was A positive. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. To Army scientists, these findings superseded any other evidence, such as documents or personal effects. It was his 138th combat mission. In 1976, they were shipped to Hawaii to be analyzed by the Armys Central Identification Laboratory (CIL-HI). Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). That is, he fell outside the approximated ranges on both counts. (2006): Identification of Human Remains. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. In May 1998, the remains were disinterred for mitochondrial DNA "fingerprinting." And you didnt mention the shoes the specially designed shoes the sentries wear are pretty cool. When Britain dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey in 1920, it garnered a lot of attention. 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. Blassie, a decorated pilot, was 24 when he died in May 1972. Everyone was free to mourn in their own way. Post-Dispatch file photo, Workers cover the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on May 13, 1998, in anticipation of the exhumation of the remains of the Vietnam unknown. Learn more about merges. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? 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. 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.. Michael Blassie and T-38 jet trainer (Blassie family). On May 11, Communist forces unleashed an all-out assault to take An Lc. That was enough for Captain Patricia Blassie. 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? 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story" The last day we took him to the airport, Michael looked back at us and waved. Still, as hesitant as he was,Gonzales thought maybe there could be more to the story. Hey there beautiful nerd! Add to your scrapbook. For Pat Blassie, Michael's sister, the once unknown soldier still is a symbol for the country. A fellow airman saw tracer rounds directed toward Mikes A-37. On May 11, 1972, at age 24, his A-37B Dragonfly aircraft was shot down near An Loc, about 60 miles north of Saigon. 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. There, a plaque holds words from the Gettysburg Address: "We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow this ground. 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. I think a third section of these guards/ceremonies around the world would have been a great inclusion. 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. He was unknown no more because of the determination of his mother and siblings. Today he comes home.". The test results showed a match with DNA samples from Jean Blassie and her oldest daughter. Im curious how the remains werent identifiable as Michael Blassie if he was the only remaining unidentified serviceman from the war. Today: Cloudy with a chance of sprinkles or flurries. I think I know where Michael is, he said, producing a paper trail that led to Arlington Cemetery. Its conceivable that they could soon use the same techniques on the unknown serviceman inside the tomb. Veteran Dispatch in 1994 and 1996 had made the claim that Blassie was the Unknown, drawing on Defense Department records. An Army band played mournfully while 21-gun salutes cracked in the distance. 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. He died in 1991. Blood samples were collected from Patricias mother and older sister. During my only visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns, during the changing of the guard, I witnessed what may be a rare event. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. The changing of the guard is quite ceremonial there and is well worth a look. The remains were confirmed to be those of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie. A hunch told him there might be something to Sampleys claims, and he began his own investigation. One of Calhoons duties, in the midst of all this chaos, was to call in airstrikes. 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. We were all so proud of him. Signaling its determination to have its Vietnam Unknown, the Pentagon gave Webb six months to make a positive ID of X-26. I didnt have any direction, and the family was lower-middle income. Of those, 470 are considered non-recoverable. That is, death has been determined, but no remains can be recovered. They were initially identified by Mortuary Affairs as Blassie. Drag images here or select from your computer for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie memorial. Scientists at CIL-HI estimated the deceaseds age to be between 26-33 years and height between 65.2-71.5 inches. 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. 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. Your email address will not be published. The name he read on the ID card was Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie. Producer Joe Rosenberg spoke with Robert Poole, author of On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery; Patricia Blassie; Bill Thomas, reporter for the Washington Post; Chris Calhoon, former Army Ranger; Vince Gonzales, reporter for CBS Denver, During the last segment of your podcast, Roman asked Joe if there were any other national monuments that had a guard like this. Michael Joseph Blassie (April 4, 1948 May 11, 1972) was a United States Air Force officer who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in May 1972. One of the most memorable actors ever almost gave it up to be an Air Force pilot. The Medal of Honor bestowed upon him as the Vietnam Unknown was not transferred to Blassie after his remains were identified.[6]. She suffered a stroke in 2004 and recently was diagnosed with pneumonia, her family said Thursday. Mourners are grateful for their extra effort. Unlike nuclear DNA, each cell carries more than a hundred copies of mtDNA, since each cell contains many mitochondria but only one nucleus. But his tactics were confrontational and often involved outrageous claims and conspiracy theories. Please try again later. His 138th combat mission ended near An Loc, South Vietnam, when the wing was blasted off his plane by enemy fire. Try again later. It was on one of these bombing runs, shortly before Calhoon arrived in An Loc, that Michael Blassie flew his 132th and final mission. 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. 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. Theyre too upsetting. The Blassies didnt know Sampley. memorial page for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie (4 Apr 1948-11 May 1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 4245, citing Jefferson Barracks National . Failed to delete memorial. [1] He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, receiving his aeronautical rating as an Air Force pilot in 1971. Michael Blassie later received an appointment to the Air Force Academy. Dubbed the "super-tweet . Blassie was declared missing in action and presumed dead. 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