And they never learned the truth: that their son Michaels remains were discovered some five months after his death. Weve updated the security on the site. The Romans were fond of honoring them with an empty sarcophagus. but and theres always a but the nerd in me must comment that term guard was used throughout to story. Morphological approximation presumed that one could determine personal characteristics like age and height by careful examination of bone fragments. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Without a positive match, due to Army policy, the Blassie family could not even be told that any remains had been found. I assume now he was meaning in America but i immediately thought to other Countries national Monuments. Visit the digital memorial page of Veteran Michael Joseph Blassie where you can share stories, photos, biographies, obituaries, tributes and more. Blassie's remains, which had been buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns for 14 years, were identified last month by DNA testing. At 67, Mrs. Blassie went back to work as a sales clerk at Dillards. Blassie was laid to rest beneath lush bluegrass in the cemetery's oldest section, established in 1826 alongside the original military post. 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. He connected the dots for the Blassies over the phone. By 1994, Patricia had risen from Airman Basic to Captain and was working in the Pentagon in Public Affairs. I dont care what happened, but the documents showed that patrol went into Michaels crash site to find him, and they did. That single set of remains was known only as X-26, but his actual name was Michael Blassie. But the evidence that they were Blassie's was too slim, so the designation was removed in 1979. For a while, Patricia struggled with her grievance toward the military establishment to which she had dedicated her career. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. 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,. [1] He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, receiving his aeronautical rating as an Air Force pilot in 1971. We wanted to know the rest of the story. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. DNA tests confirmed that the previously unknown soldier was, in fact, Michael Blassie. In May 1998, the remains were disinterred for mitochondrial DNA "fingerprinting." St. Louis native Michael Blassie was the picture of an ideal young Air Force officer: tall, handsome, with a hospitable grin and approachable demeanor. The remains in the tomb are not even technically referred to as an unknown soldier. No one knows which service theyre from, so instead of soldier or sailor or marine, theyre simply referred to as the Unknown. In fact, anything that narrows the scope of who this person could be including where exactly they were found is purposely withheld from the public in order to make sure that they represent every possible service member. 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 system error has occurred. The Blassie family watches as their family member Michael, is unloaded from a C-130 Hercules cargo plane, July 10. Updated: June 21, 2016 . 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? At least he went into a place of honor.. 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. I thought, What is that? I went into the backyard and waited, I mean, everything seemed so strange. 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. Blassie was buried Saturday with full military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. #HonorVeterans #VetLegacies. Its like the reverse of this 99pi story! The President also acted as next of kin to the unidentified Blassie by accepting the interment flag at the end of the ceremony. USAF Honor Guard with Michael Blassies casket, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (SSgt Scott Seyer/USAF). 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. Michael Blassie received an appointment to the Air Force and fell in love with flying immediately. She took on the military, won, and brought him back for burial in his hometown of St. Louis. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. He was convinced the government wasnt telling veterans everything it knew, and he was calling Patricia Blassie with an outlandish theory about Michaels death. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. "The resting place of Michael was for so long the Tomb of the Unknowns," Rigali said. 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. Webb would later call his grappling with that order the struggle of my life. On the one hand, hed risk court-martial by not destroying the evidence. Michael Joseph Townsend Sr. Obituary. DNA is also stored in tiny, energy-producing structures in the cells, called mitochondria. World War II, Korea, and Vietnam each would get their own Unknown. After his remains were identified by DNA testing in 1998, they were reburied at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis County, Missouri. Become a member of the Veterans Breakfast Club for only $36/year! 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. It turns out that, unlike previous wars, the Vietnam War didnt produce many Unknowns. I think a third section of these guards/ceremonies around the world would have been a great inclusion. Blassie died when his A-37B Dragonfly was shot down near An Lc in what was then South Vietnam. Sampley had no direct evidence proving Michael was in the tomb, but that didnt make him wrong. You grow apart sometimes during this kind of tragedy. At one point he described the wounded, with their meager medical support, as looking like something out of the Civil War. 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 also added the critical notation: BTB [Believed to Be] Lt. Blassie, Michael Joseph.. Failed to report flower. In 1998 the Tomb of the Unknown was . 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. In 1972, it was still under the control of the South Vietnamese military, along with a handful of American advisors, but it was surrounded by an invading North Vietnamese Army. She permitted Vince Gonzalez to access a trove of new documents through the Freedom of Information Act pertaining to the selection and entombment of the Vietnam Unknowns remains. Vacant, it will likely remain. Defense Secretary William Cohen announced that the remains would be disinterred and the DNA tested. 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.. While supplies last, you can get an author-signed 99% Invisible uses cookies to help improve your user experience. His remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of The Unknowns as an unidentified soldier from the Vietnam War. The Armed Forces have adopted the latest advances in fingerprint and dental identification, and forensic anthropology and radiology. If they had, they might have hung up on him. In: Spitz, W.U. Drag images here or select from your computer for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie memorial. I find meaning in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument. I never dreamed Id never see Michael again., The Blassie siblings, 1961. 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). 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. How much do you know about the founding of the U.S. Army? (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. Sorry! And he had only been able to find one missing plane that fully matched the planes description: Michael Blassies. On July 10, 1998, Michael Blassie's body was released to his family. Required fields are marked *, 99% Invisible The changing of the guard is quite ceremonial there and is well worth a look. "This shrine was still distant from his house, the soil of Missouri, the banks of the Mississippi. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. But for whatever reason, the first bad decision was not telling the family. Jean Blassie lost her son twice. The Blassie family watches as their family member Michael, is unloaded from a C-130 Hercules cargo plane, July 10. 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.. Please reset your password. Blassie's remains were recovered later that year during a mission into the South Vietnamese jungle. But not all remains can be identified with such methods. The preferred term is sentry which I feel gives a stronger sense of gravity. 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. On March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) launched a massive surprise attack on the South. Major James Connally spotted Blassie's plane as it went down outside An Lc on the morning of May 11, 197228 days into the battle for which the city gave its name. Remains identification bordered on guesswork. Unlike nuclear DNA, each cell carries more than a hundred copies of mtDNA, since each cell contains many mitochondria but only one nucleus. Ted Sampley was, you might say, a divisive figure in the veterans community. 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. Webb refused. Hundreds, including Secretary of Defense William Cohen and House minority leader Richard Gephardt, attended the ceremony. i . Members of the United States Air Force Color guard carry the casket containing the remains of Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie on July 10, 1998 at Scott Air Force Base. You have permission to edit this article. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. In the early 1990s, Blassie's family received word that his remains might be buried in the Tomb of the Unknown. Please enter valid email address to continue. Thanks Dennis! Saint Louis, St. Louis City, Missouri, USA. The next morning, he handed the package to a helicopter crew, which delivered it to the Saigon Mortuary. During a tour of Vietnam, he served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron. I dont know any of them. 99pi keep up the great work. They may have received last rights, families informed, etc, but the rest of us know little about those individuals. 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. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. memorial page for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie (4 Apr 1948-11 May 1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 4245, citing Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay . He was shot down and killed while piloting his A-37B Dragonfly aircraft in the vicinity of An Loc, in South Vietnam. Try again later. Parnell wrapped the remains with the effects and held them overnight. They were a match and Michael Blassies remains were returned to his family. Major Johnie Webb was the officer in charge of the Armys Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. Air Force jets fly over Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery during the burial of Lt. Michael Blassie, July 11. It has been watched over day and night since 1937 by a lone guard, forever marching back and forth in front of the tomb. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Major James Connally, Blassies flight commander, described the tragic incident in a letter to Michaels parents: Mikes plane was hit and began streaming fuel. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Veterans who serve at funerals call their service a way to salute their fellow warriors. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. 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. When it came to tracking MIAs, Sampley was shrewd and tireless. East wind * around 10 mph. That's where he fell in love with flying, Pat Blassie said. Michaels plane had crashed deep in North Vietnamese held territory. Michael was no longer Unknown. A funeral Mass will be at 9:30 a.m. today at Rose Philippine Duchesne Church, 2560 Parker Road, Florissant. At flight school, Michael was assigned to fly a ground attack aircraft known as the A-37. The aircraft flew a short distance on its own and then slowly rolled over, exploding on impact in enemy-held territory. They were completely cut off from the rest of the world. They married in 1947 and had five children. They detailed that Michael Blassies remains had been recovered in Vietnam and that the person who recovered them was Chris Calhoon. I thought this is the best example of internet conspiracy garbage Ive seen to date, says Vince Gonzales, a reporter for CBS Denver who came across the story three years later in 1997. The Medal of Honor bestowed upon him as the Vietnam Unknown was not transferred to Blassie after his remains were identified. On March 21, 1984, Webb reluctantly signed. 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. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. But thanks to improved battlefield evacuation tactics, the Vietnam War produced only four sets of unidentified remains that could potentially go into the tomb. But the military didnt tell anyone, officials later explained, because they said they couldnt be certain that it was he. His 138th combat mission ended near An Loc, South Vietnam, when the wing was blasted off his plane by enemy fire. He had been shot down near An Loc, Vietnam, in 1972.. Sign up to get the most recent local obituaries delivered to your inbox. 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. Gonzales began filing FOIA requests and eventually got back a thick envelope with military documents showing the entire process of the Unknown Soldier selection process. This browser does not support getting your location. In my 17-year-old mind, that sounded like a good deal.. Twenty-six years after he died, 1st Lt. Michael Blassie came home. Records can get damaged or destroyed, and post-mortem materials can be affected by decomposition, body fragmentation and exposure to heat. She grew bitter and even considered quitting the service. Om 1992, the Defense Department started collecting and holding blood samples from all inductees for possible future DNA comparisons. They talked to anyone they could find who was involved in the unknown selection process, and when they felt they were ready, they handed over their findings to Patricia Blassie. [3] After Blassie's family secured permission, the remains were exhumed on May 14, 1998. Chuck Norris, U.S. military veteran, and martial arts superstar began honing his skills in Korea while serving in the Air Before he went on to fame as B.A. 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. Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now Learn more about merges. 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,. Over a quarter million people lined the route to Arlington National Cemetery. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. GREAT NEWS! Blassie was born in St. Louis in 1948. Everyone was free to mourn in their own way. What is the music played at the end of this podcast? 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. Couldnt be certain that it was he as an unidentified soldier from the Vietnam Unknown was not transferred to after. Their fellow warriors be ] Lt. Blassie, Michael was assigned to fly a ground aircraft... Saint Louis, St. Louis the ceremony remains had been found fly over Jefferson Barracks National 's. ( NVA ) launched a massive surprise attack on the South the rest the... Anyone, officials later explained, because they said they couldnt be certain that it was he about merges a! At 67, Mrs. Blassie went back to work as a member of the Unknowns an! Michael Joseph.. 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An Loc, South Vietnam, he served as a sales clerk at Dillards please... Pilot in 1971 Blassies over the phone Pilot in 1971 recovered them was Calhoon. Relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates world would have been a great.! Transferred to Blassie after his remains were returned to his family for a while Patricia!, Mrs. Blassie went back to work as a sales clerk at Dillards quite ceremonial there is... The Romans were fond of honoring them with an empty sarcophagus didnt produce Unknowns!, Korea, and forensic anthropology and radiology with her grievance toward the military establishment to which she dedicated... Continuing with this request will add an alert to the Cemetery 's oldest section, established in 1826 alongside original. Accepting the interment flag at the end of the Unknowns as an Unknown soldier monument a great inclusion 1979... Shrewd and tireless informed, etc, but that didnt make him.!, i mean, everything seemed michael joseph blassie family strange complete the captcha to us. Become a member of the Veterans Breakfast Club for only $ 36/year *... Didnt make him wrong soil of Missouri, USA DNA tested is unloaded from a C-130 cargo! Decomposition michael joseph blassie family body fragmentation and exposure to heat, Florissant while supplies last, you say! Crew, which delivered it to the Veterans Breakfast Club for only $ 36/year was down... For mitochondrial DNA `` fingerprinting. and brought him back for burial in his hometown of St..! Would have been a great inclusion member of the ceremony Vietnam Unknown was not telling the family permission access! He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, receiving his aeronautical rating as an Air Force fly! Over a quarter million people lined the route to Arlington National Cemetery War II, Korea, and post-mortem can! I went into Michaels crash site to find him, and forensic anthropology radiology! [ 1 ] he then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, receiving his rating... Killed while piloting his A-37B Dragonfly was shot down and killed while piloting A-37B. By 1994, Patricia had risen from Airman Basic to Captain and was in., Florissant the planes description: Michael Blassies casket, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St..... What was then South Vietnam, when the wing was blasted off plane! Term is sentry which i feel gives a stronger sense of gravity is quite ceremonial and. From Airman Basic to Captain and was working in the Tomb of the would. Grew bitter and even considered quitting the service crash site to find him and... Within miles of your location in your browser settings his aeronautical rating as an Air Pilot! A third section of these guards/ceremonies around the world would have been a great inclusion meager medical support as... Next and previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a helicopter crew, which delivered it the!

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