But perhaps Im speaking out of turn. 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. Family and friends are welcome to send flowers or leave their condolences on . Then, as more information about those remains was discovered, only one set of remains remained unknown. On July 11, 1998, Michael Blassie was buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. This browser does not support getting your location. I thought, Wait just a minute here, a South Vietnamese scout team with American advisors discovered the remains, found an ID and artifacts, put them on a chopper and considered their job done. #inline-recirc-item--id-91b39784-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-91b39784-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { Those who fell in the Vietnam War would thereby be honored alongside the three other Unknowns from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He made his case for Blassie as the Vietnam Unknown in a self-published newsletter, the U.S. 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. It was so exciting," she says. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. Given the advance of DNA technology, there may never be another US Unknown. Michael Blassies squadron was providing that air support over An Loc. DNA is also stored in tiny, energy-producing structures in the cells, called mitochondria. That was enough for Captain Patricia Blassie. After Blassie's family secured permission . On May 28, 1984, a Third Army Old Guard horse-drawn caisson moved slowly along Constitution Avenue. A simple process of elimination made clear that the remains had to be a small fixed-wing pilot like Michael. Patricia was proud also when he headed off to Vietnam six years later. By 1972, when Michael was deployed, Americas military presence in Southeast Asia was shrinking rapidly. Check out member benefits and perks . She and her four children met to try to figure out what to do. }, First published on July 10, 1998 / 4:49 PM. The remains were exhumed in May; DNA tests that were not available 26 years ago confirmed the remains were Blassie's. In my 17-year-old mind, that sounded like a good deal.. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. [1] He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, receiving his aeronautical rating as an Air Force pilot in 1971. 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. #HonorVeterans #VetLegacies. First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie (April 4, 1948 - May 11, 1972) was an officer in the United States Air Force. Michael Blassie The Final Mission. Based on mitochondrial DNA testing, Department of Defense scientists were able to identify Blassie's remains. When they came back, they handed Michael Blassies remains toCalhoon. How to honor unidentified remains has always been one of the great conundrums of war. It can represent all soldiers. Blassie's unidentified remains were designated as the Vietnam Unknown service member by Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Blassie in his Air Force Academy cadet uniform. They denied it. Learn more about managing a memorial . I didnt even know how to go about college. DNA tests confirmed that the previously unknown soldier was, in fact, Michael Blassie. I find meaning in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Jean Frances Blassie died 15 years later, on Tuesday (June 11, 2013), at Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur. After petitioning the United States Government for permission, his family had his body exhumed. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4245/michael-joseph-blassie. 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. A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Mike qualified on the A-37B Dragonfly (Super Tweet) Cessna attack aircraft. Patricia Blassie, today a colonel with the Air Force Reserve who lives in Georgia, told her family of a phone call she had received in 1994 from a former Army Green Beret. Blassie's remains, which had been buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns for 14 years, were identified last month by DNA testing. First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie, 24, was shot down over South Vietnam in 1972 and presumed dead. East wind * around 10 mph. Hundreds, including Secretary of Defense William Cohen and House minority leader Richard Gephardt, attended the ceremony. He basically sat on a shelf from 1972 to 1984, Patricia Blassie said. See http://www.virtualwall.org/db/BlassieMJ01a.htm read more Sign up to get the most recent local obituaries delivered to your inbox. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. US air power was used extensively in defense of the city and five aircraft were lost that day: A-37B-1st Lt Michael J Blassie, 8th SOS, O-2A-Capt, Barry K Allmond, 21st TASS, O-2A, 1st Lt John H Haselton, 21st TASS, AH-1G Cpt . We were all so proud of him. This shielding of information from the Blassies ended up only compounding their pain. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Just to eliminate doubt, Patricia traveled to the Air Force Casualty Office at Randolph AFB in San Antonio to ask if there might be any truth to Sampleys claims. USAF Honor Guard with Michael Blassies casket, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (SSgt Scott Seyer/USAF). The dedication alone attracted so many mourners, the line for viewing lasted ten days. But for whatever reason, the first bad decision was not telling the family. The soldiers anonymity would allow each person who came to the grave to project whatever was most important to them onto the mystery. Without a positive match, due to Army policy, the Blassie family could not even be told that any remains had been found. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. If he couldnt do it, Webb would be ordered to sign off on the burial. Of those, 470 are considered non-recoverable. That is, death has been determined, but no remains can be recovered. When Britain dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey in 1920, it garnered a lot of attention. That destiny was already in motion. Those vacuum-sealed samples now number some 8 million, sitting ready for a self-reference analysis in case of battlefield death. memorial page for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie (4 Apr 1948-11 May 1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 4245, citing Jefferson Barracks National . All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. That crypt would remain empty for over a decade. The first time, he was killed, his aircraft shot down while flying a mission during the Vietnam War in 1972. Veteran Dispatch. 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. Parnell wrapped the remains with the effects and held them overnight. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie, 24, was shot down over South Vietnam in 1972 and presumed dead. His sister Pat described the evidence succinctly: "The trail leads to the tomb." Oops, we were unable to send the email. For Pat Blassie, Michael's sister, the once unknown soldier still is a symbol for the country. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. In honor of the Air Force's birthday, we've put together this Air Force history quiz. Search above to list available cemeteries. That simple, tragic explanation would be the only one that Blassies parents ever heard for 26 years. 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. 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. Michael Blassies C-37 Dragonfly was part of that defense flying support for allied South Vietnamese ground units. Patricia still visits the tomb. It sits at the top of a hill that overlooks the rest of Arlington Cemetery. Michaels plane had crashed deep in North Vietnamese held territory. I assume now he was meaning in America but i immediately thought to other Countries national Monuments. Today: Cloudy with a chance of sprinkles or flurries. Some evidence suggests that the remains ceremonially laid to rest by President Reagan 14 years ago belong to 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, a decorated flier still officially listed as missing in . The six fragments in file X-26 were the exception. Morphological approximation presumed that one could determine personal characteristics like age and height by careful examination of bone fragments. Armed with the documents, he teamed up with veteran CBS correspondent, Eric Engberg. Dubbed the super-tweet it was designed to fly low over its target. They brought him home for burial in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near St. Louis. Remains identification bordered on guesswork. #inline-recirc-item--id-91b39784-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { We believe Michael would have been proud of how we pulled together to bring him home. I want to bring my son home.. DNA tests determined that the remains in the tomb were those of Blassie. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid Hurtful also were the objections she and her family received from Vietnam veterans, who resented the Blassies for taking away their Unknown. They brought him home for burial in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near St. Louis. 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. At 67, Mrs. Blassie went back to work as a sales clerk at Dillards. The goal was to schedule the ceremony before Election Day 1984, which is why Memorial Day, rather than Veterans Day, was selected. Even though they were still officially believed to belong to Blassie, the lab was ordered to strip the remains of their believed to be designation, and give them the anonymous designation X-26. Serving as next-of-kid, President Ronald Reagan received the folded flag and made brief remarks. For 14 years, the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie lay beneath the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington. Whatever was known about the remains of the Vietnam Unknown had never been revealed. 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. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. I saluted smartly and put the thought aside. The last day we took him to the airport, Michael looked back at us and waved. Michael Blassie was therefore ruled out as a possible match. Resend Activation Email. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. My parents marriage did not survive. The music is an original piece by our talented composer, Sean Real. I signed up the next day. That is, he fell outside the approximated ranges on both counts. It turns out that, unlike previous wars, the Vietnam War didnt produce many Unknowns. And he had only been able to find one missing plane that fully matched the planes description: Michael Blassies. Prior to the identification of his remains, Blassie was the unknown service member . Required fields are marked *, 99% Invisible My father went to his grave in 1991 not knowing the rest of his sons story., Meanwhile, Patricia herself joined the Air Force. cemeteries found in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. "My father, who served in Normandy during World War II, never got over losing Michael," says Patricia Blassie, who was 13 years old when her brother, the oldest of five siblings, died. CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat" A fellow airman saw tracer rounds directed toward Mikes A-37. 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