It has been watched over day and night since 1937 by a lone guard, forever marching back and forth in front of the tomb. 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. Remains identification bordered on guesswork. Helton, L.M. display: none; The bones were taken to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, where officials said they were "believed to be" those of Blassie. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. The body will be cremated and her remains buried at Calvary Cemetery with her parents and grandparents. After petitioning the United States Government for permission, his family had his body exhumed. No one knows how many remains from Vietnam and elsewhere were buried in the wrong graves because of these flawed identification procedures. He was unknown no more because of the determination of his mother and siblings. Tony. Blassie was buried Saturday with full military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Calhoon assumed that Michaels remains would be returning to his family. They interviewed Parnell, by then a retired Colonel living in Florida. There, Captain Richard S. Hess of Mortuary Affairs inventoried the package and added a skeletal chart showing the bones locations on the body (right humerus, right pelvis, and four rib bones). 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. 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. The remains and associated materials were eventually turned over to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii for analysis and identification. After graduating from St. Louis University High School he entered the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1970. 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. "The resting place of Michael was for so long the Tomb of the Unknowns," Rigali said. That single set of remains was known only as X-26, but his actual name was Michael Blassie. 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. 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. A 1970 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, he served in the Vietnam War as a 1st Lieutenant the 8th Special Operations Squadron. It is very austere and moving. There they would rest for eight years in a file labeled X-26 until their date with destiny arrived. One British chaplain named David Railton saw some of the worst of the fighting on the front lines. Michael Sorkin is a reporter at the Post-Dispatch. All rights reserved. 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. Michael Blassie and T-38 jet trainer (Blassie family). 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. They detailed that Michael Blassies remains had been recovered in Vietnam and that the person who recovered them was Chris Calhoon. Blassie, who was killed in Vietnam. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. I find meaning in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument. . It was around this time that David Railton came across a temporary grave, a few miles behind the front, marked only by a cross bearing the name of a regiment and the words: An unknown British soldier.. Human beings have copies of DNA from each biological parent, stored in the nucleus of every cell. They petitioned the Department of Defense to open the site and conduct DNA testing, a technology that had been unavailable . A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Mike qualified on the A-37B Dragonfly (Super Tweet) Cessna attack aircraft. President Reagan presided over the funeral and presented the Medal of Honor to the Vietnam Unknown. The soldiers anonymity would allow each person who came to the grave to project whatever was most important to them onto the mystery. For Mrs. Blassie, the fight to recover her sons remains took a dramatic turn during a family meeting in November 1997 at her apartment in Florissant. GREAT NEWS! They had a letter from his flight leader, James Connally, who recapped what had happened., Still, without remains, there was a terrible sense of open-ended grief. In 1991 the Department of Defense founded the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL). i . At one point he described the wounded, with their meager medical support, as looking like something out of the Civil War. Michael Blassie in his Air Force Academy cadet uniform. In addition, a single strand of hair found in the flight suit yielded an estimated blood type O negative. His remains were finally brought home aboard a C-130 cargo plane Friday in a solemn service befitting a pilot killed in the line of duty in Vietnam. Please enter valid email address to continue. An Army caisson carried his casket from the Capitol to the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 28, 1984. She said then-President Ronald Reagan had wanted to add a Vietnam War soldier to the Tomb of the Unknowns, joining the unknown soldiers from World War I and II and the Korean War. Mrs. As is standard, all records pertaining to these remains were destroyed. On July 10, 1998, Michael Blassie's body was released to his family. There, a plaque holds words from the Gettysburg Address: "We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow this ground. 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. Michael was no longer Unknown. "We put away no final memories.". DNA is also stored in tiny, energy-producing structures in the cells, called mitochondria. Love each and every podcast . We believe Michael would have been proud of how we pulled together to bring him home. A neighbor came over to get me, saying, Pat, you need to go inside. So I did and knew something was horribly wrong. That destiny was already in motion. In World War I there were around 1,648 Unknowns, in World War II there were 8,526, the Korean war there were 848. Parnell wrapped the remains with the effects and held them overnight. Add to your scrapbook. He had written an article he said proved that her brother had been buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery on May 28, 1984. And he had only been able to find one missing plane that fully matched the planes description: Michael Blassies. The president meant to assure families of soldiers with MIA status that their loved ones would not be forgotten, but his words were prescient of the Vietnam unknown's fate. Plot 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. In the early 1980s, officials chose the set of remains coded "X-26" to be interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns. To use this feature, use a newer browser. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. They were initially identified by Mortuary Affairs as Blassie. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. After his remains were identified by DNA testing in 1998, they were reburied at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis County, Missouri. 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. 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. 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.. On the other, if he destroyed Blassies personal effects, he might condemn Blassies remains to permanent oblivion. Web Policies, Careers, Accessibility, HHS Vulnerability Disclosure NLM, 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda MD 20894 NIH, HHS, FOIA, NLM Support Center, Last reviewed: 03 December 2014Last updated: 05 June 2014First published: 16 February 2006, Air Force equipment found with Michael Blassie. After petitioning the United States Government for permission, his family had his body exhumed. 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? No other MIA or KIA even remotely near the An Lc location would have possessed a life raft, parachute, and pistol holster. Please reset your password. Over a quarter million people lined the route to Arlington National Cemetery. His 138th combat mission ended near An Loc, South Vietnam, when the wing was blasted off his plane by enemy fire. 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. Every recovered American service member killed in action since the Vietnam War has been identified and buried. Try again later. My parents marriage did not survive. Michael Blassie The Final Mission. She grew bitter and even considered quitting the service. His remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of The Unknowns as an unidentified soldier from the Vietnam War. Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, Eli Lilly to cut insulin prices by 70%, cap monthly costs at $35, Pandemic-era food benefits end for millions of Americans as costs rise, Three officers shot, standoff follows in Kansas City, Mo., police say, Flying bug found at Walmart turns out to be rare Jurassic-era insect, CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat". I talked with many of them and they would say, But this is the one honor we received, and the Blassie family is disrupting that honor. I would reply, All the Vietnam Unknowns should be accounted for by the government. I would remind them of that, and Id tell them our family story. Theyre too upsetting. I didnt have any direction, and the family was lower-middle income. "We were all so proud of him. Instead, they were simply designated as BTB believed to be Michael Blassie. I saluted smartly and put the thought aside. On July 11, 1998, Michael Blassie was buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. } Trailing the procession were Vietnam veterans, comparatively disheveled with beards, long hair, and jungle fatigues. It was all part of the effort to make sure that the Unknown could represent everyone who ever fought in the war. Many thanks for such a great show, this episode and all the others~ 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. His jet lost a wing, crashed and burned. 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. Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body. Year should not be greater than current year. Mourners included military personnel, veterans and civilians. 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. Updated: June 21, 2016 . He must have been killed instantly since he did not transmit a distress call of any kind. Love your show. Yet he was found five months after he was shot down and then buried without our knowledge in the Tomb of the Unknowns. And they never learned the truth: that their son Michaels remains were discovered some five months after his death. 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. DNA testing was in its infancy in 1972. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Its like the reverse of this 99pi story! Her father died in a traffic accident when she was 9 or 10. She attended Wellston High School but left after three years to work as a nurses aide at DePaul Hospital. On July 10, Blassie's remains were transported to his family in St. Louis, and were later reinterred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. 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. After 26 years, the family of Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie, buried the pilot Saturday, ending a painful mystery that began in 1972. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Advances made since the early 1980s had made it possible to identify the remains, which consisted of only six bones -- far below the usual 80 percent of a corpse required for burial at Arlington. 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. Mourners are grateful for their extra effort. } Joseph Michael Leo Findlan Obituary. She says shes not sure why she does it, but it means that shes gotten to know some of the guards. He believed, for example, that Senator John McCain had been brainwashed at the Hanoi Hilton and was sent back to the US to orchestrate official coverups of living POWs in Southeast Asia. Blassie's remains, which had been buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns for 14 years, were identified last month by DNA testing. If they had, they might have hung up on him. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Patricia still visits the tomb. By 1972, when Michael was deployed, Americas military presence in Southeast Asia was shrinking rapidly. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? She met George Blassie, a butcher, at a ballroom dance. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Michael Blassies squadron was providing that air support over An Loc. I wouldnt think there was a known soldier in the Tomb of the Unknowns, she recalled thinking. As the Medal of Honor was ceremoniously presented to the unidentified remains, it did not transfer to Blassie who did receive four awards, including the Silver Star (see above), on his own merit for documented valor, heroism and achievements during his actions in combat in Vietnam. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. I thought you might like to see a memorial for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie I found on Findagrave.com. ). Blassie, a decorated pilot, was 24 when he died in May 1972. The gravesite of 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on Thursday, June 13, 2013. An Army band played mournfully while 21-gun salutes cracked in the distance. 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. A fellow airman saw tracer rounds directed toward Mikes A-37. Improvements in evacuation, recordkeeping, and forensic science meant that almost all US remains recovered from combat zones were identified. Learn more about merges. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. You grow apart sometimes during this kind of tragedy. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. But Mrs. Blassie also had a hunch. Blassies was A positive. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Joseph Michael Leo Findlan (Amelia, Ohio), who passed away on February 24, 2022, at the age of 71, leaving to mourn family and friends. By 1994, Patricia had risen from Airman Basic to Captain and was working in the Pentagon in Public Affairs. cemeteries found in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. well, that was simply too much to believe. The aircraft went down in flames. 99pi keep up the great work. First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie, 24, was shot down over South Vietnam in 1972 and presumed dead. The remains were confirmed to be those of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie. 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. The Medal of Honor bestowed upon him as the Vietnam Unknown was not transferred to Blassie after his remains were identified.[6]. Veteran Dispatch in 1994 and 1996 had made the claim that Blassie was the Unknown, drawing on Defense Department records. The remains were exhumed in May; DNA tests that were not available 26 years ago confirmed the remains were Blassie's. CDC warns drug-resistant stomach bug a "serious public health threat" The recruiters said if I joined the Air Force, Id travel, get excellent training,and an education. To Army scientists, these findings superseded any other evidence, such as documents or personal effects. Patricia was proud also when he headed off to Vietnam six years later. William S. Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1998. The guards coming on duty are inspected for perfection in uniform, and inspector found some problem with the new guards blouse. 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 next time, the Air Force lost him. This account has been disabled. based on information from your browser. Veteran Dispatch. Michael Blassies C-37 Dragonfly was part of that defense flying support for allied South Vietnamese ground units. Learn more about managing a memorial . On March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) launched a massive surprise attack on the South. In part, because the formula was so easy to follow all that was needed was the body of a single unknown soldier. "We write no last chapters, we close no books," Reagan said. Whatever the case, other aircraft were dispatched to the area to provide cover for an Army chopper rescue team, all for naught. The music is an original piece by our talented composer, Sean Real. Today: Cloudy with a chance of sprinkles or flurries. 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 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. Records can get damaged or destroyed, and post-mortem materials can be affected by decomposition, body fragmentation and exposure to heat. Of those, 470 are considered non-recoverable. That is, death has been determined, but no remains can be recovered. A simple process of elimination made clear that the remains had to be a small fixed-wing pilot like Michael. Weve updated the security on the site. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story" Those vacuum-sealed samples now number some 8 million, sitting ready for a self-reference analysis in case of battlefield death. Without a positive match, due to Army policy, the Blassie family could not even be told that any remains had been found. Jean Frances Blassie died 15 years later, on Tuesday (June 11, 2013), at Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. The nature of combat in Vietnam and advances in forensic medicine had made it difficult for officials to bury a Vietnam unknown. Thanks Dennis! 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. He also added the critical notation: BTB [Believed to Be] Lt. Blassie, Michael Joseph.. The Blassie family watches as their family member Michael, is unloaded from a C-130 Hercules cargo plane, July 10. Over fifty countries would end up building similar memorials. Michael Blassie was therefore ruled out as a possible match. 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,. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford [email protected] Jean Blassie lost. 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.. [6] The gravesite of 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on Thursday, June 13, 2013. 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.. Based on mitochondrial DNA testing, Department of Defense scientists were able to identify Blassie's remains. In: Spitz, W.U. Your email address will not be published. On May 28, 1984, a Third Army Old Guard horse-drawn caisson moved slowly along Constitution Avenue. High in t the middle 30s. Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). After 26 years, the family of Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie, buried the pilot Saturday, ending a painful mystery that began in 1972. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. It was so exciting, she says. Three years later, in 1997, Vince Gonzales, a young correspondent with CBS News, contacted the Blassies. Blood samples were collected from Patricias mother and older sister. With the invention of the polymerase chain reaction in 1985, DNA analysis moved to the forefront of forensic technologies. Its conceivable that they could soon use the same techniques on the unknown serviceman inside the tomb. Michael Blassie later received an appointment to the Air Force Academy. Test your knowledge! Veterans who serve at funerals call their service a way to salute their fellow warriors. They may have received last rights, families informed, etc, but the rest of us know little about those individuals. They never got updates on recovery efforts. Thats when a Vietnam veteran and former Green Beret named Ted Sampley called Patricias mother out of the blue. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. Try again later. How to honor unidentified remains has always been one of the great conundrums of war. 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. Family and friends are welcome to send flowers or leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with . In celebration of the Marine Corps' birthday, Military.com has put together this Marine Corps history quiz. . They had to do more with less and that meant Michael was going to see a lot of combat. President Ronald Reagan bestowed the Medal of Honor upon the Vietnam unknown. They married in 1947 and had five children. The Armed Forces have adopted the latest advances in fingerprint and dental identification, and forensic anthropology and radiology. The city of An Loc was totally leveled it looked like Hiroshima, says Chris Calhoon who was stationed there as an Army Ranger. However, analysis at the time suggested that the remains were not a compelling match to Blassie's age and height. 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. (AP Photo/James A. Finley), Pat Blassie (second from left) points out to her mother Jean Blassie (third from left) and her sister Mary Hart (right) the C-130 Hercules plane as it arrives at Scott Air Force Base with their brother Michael Blassie's remains. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Michael Blassie (4245)? Patricia was proud also when he headed off to Vietnam six years later. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. Because mtDNA is passed along the maternal line, scientists compared the Unknown Soldier's DNA against two samples submitted by First Lieutenant Blassie's mother and sister and found a match. Railton would spend his nights conducting funeral services over the often unidentifiable remains of soldiers ripped apart by shellfire, sometimes burying them on the spot or en masse in the giant craters the shells had left behind. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. 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. Perhaps they should put up a new plaque at the memorial that talks about the fact that there may never again be an unknown soldier. At first, there were a lot of Unknowns to work with. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid 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. She took on the military, won, and brought him back for burial in his hometown of St. Louis. Michael Joseph Blassie was a United States Air Force officer who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in May 1972.