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Michael Joseph Blassie (April 4, 1948 – May 11, 1972) was a
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
officer who was
killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
in May 1972. 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 Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...
. After his remains were identified by DNA testing in 1998, they were reburied at
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a fo ...
in
St. Louis County, Missouri St. Louis County is located in eastern Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River to the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1, ...
.


Biography

Blassie was born in
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
in 1948. After graduating from St. Louis University High School he entered the
United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...
, graduating in 1970. He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus Air Force Base, receiving his aeronautical rating as an Air Force pilot in 1971. He subsequently qualified as an A-37 Dragonfly pilot and served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, deployed to Southeast Asia. Blassie died when his A-37B Dragonfly was shot down near An Lộc in what was then
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
.


Awards and decorations


Vietnam Unknown

Five months after the shoot down an
Army of the Republic of Vietnam The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forc ...
(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. The ARVN turned the remains and the other crash site items over to Captain William C. Parnell, who was then serving as an operations officer at An Loc. The name he read on the ID card was Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie. Captain Parnell wrapped the remains, and the other items found at the crash site, in plastic and held them overnight. Parnell soon turned the remains over to the Saigon mortuary, along with the ID card and other items. 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. They were initially identified by Mortuary Affairs as Blassie. The remains were reclassified as unknown when their projected age and height were judged not to match Blassie's. Blassie's unidentified remains were designated as the Vietnam Unknown service member by
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
recipient U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Allan J. Kellogg Jr. during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on May 17, 1984, and were transported aboard the to Naval Air Station Alameda. The remains were then sent to
Travis Air Force Base Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base under the operational control of Air Mobility Command (AMC), located three miles (5 Kilometre, km) east of the central business district of the city of Fairfield, California, Fairfield, i ...
on May 24 and arrived at
Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form ...
the following day. Many Vietnam veterans, President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
and First Lady
Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...
visited Blassie as he lay in state in the U.S. Capitol. An Army caisson carried his casket from the Capitol to the Memorial Amphitheater at
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...
on Memorial Day, May 28, 1984. President Reagan presided over the funeral and presented the Medal of Honor to the Vietnam Unknown. The President also acted as next of kin to the unidentified Blassie by accepting the interment flag at the end of the ceremony. DNA identification had yet to advance to its current state when Blassie's remains were repatriated, and he lay in the Tomb of the Unknowns up to 1998, with visitors paying respects but unaware of his identity. Articles in ''U.S. Veteran Dispatch'' in 1994 and 1996 had made the claim that Blassie was the Unknown, drawing on Defense Department records. A
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
report in January 1998 subsequently made the same claim. They interviewed Parnell, by then a retired Colonel living in Florida. He related his story of wrapping the remains, with the dog tags, in plastic. After Blassie's family secured permission, the remains were exhumed on May 14, 1998. Based on mitochondrial DNA testing, Department of Defense scientists were able to identify Blassie's remains.Helton, L.M. (2006): Identification of Human Remains. Part 2: DNA. In: Spitz, W.U. & Spitz, D.J. (eds): ''Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death. Guideline for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigations (Fourth edition)'', Charles C. Thomas, pp.: 226-239; Springfield, Illinois. On June 30, 1998, the Defense Department announced that the Vietnam Unknown had been identified. On July 10, Blassie's remains were transported to his family in
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
, and were later reinterred at
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a fo ...
. The Medal of Honor bestowed upon him as the Vietnam Unknown was not transferred to Blassie after his remains were identified. 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", as it was decided that the Vietnam crypt would remain a vacant
cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...
. As the Medal of Honor was ceremoniously presented to the unidentified remains, it did not transfer to Blassiewho did receive four awards, including the
Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...
(see above), on his own merit for documented valor, heroism and achievements during his actions in combat in Vietnam.


See also

*
List of solved missing person cases Lists of solved missing person cases include: * List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950 * List of solved missing person cases: 1950–1999 * List of solved missing person cases: post-2000 See also

* List of kidnappings * List of murder ...


References


External links


Disposition of the Medal
awarded to the Unknown Soldier from the Vietnam War
VA History Office
Funeral Ceremony for Vietnam Unknown {{DEFAULTSORT:Blassie, Michael 1948 births 1970s missing person cases 1972 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Formerly missing American people Military personnel from St. Louis Missing person cases in Vietnam United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force officers United States Air Force personnel killed in the Vietnam War