michael joseph blassie familymichael joseph blassie family

They were a match and Michael Blassies remains were returned to his family. Maj. Allan J. Kellogg Jr. during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on May 17, 1984,[2] and were transported aboard the USSBrewton to Naval Air Station Alameda. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story" Unlike nuclear DNA, each cell carries more than a hundred copies of mtDNA, since each cell contains many mitochondria but only one nucleus. English Forensic anthropologists took the aged and damaged samples of bone for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing. Western reporters called it a mini-Stalingrad, the ugliest kind of siege warfare. 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. She met George Blassie, a butcher, at a ballroom dance. Find records of Michael Blassie Birth records Marriage records Divorce records During my only visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns, during the changing of the guard, I witnessed what may be a rare event. 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. There was no question, the remains were Michaels. There they would rest for eight years in a file labeled X-26 until their date with destiny arrived. 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. i . [1] He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, receiving his aeronautical rating as an Air Force pilot in 1971. Oops, something didn't work. First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie, 24, was shot down over South Vietnam in 1972 and presumed dead. Follow him on Facebook. Your donations are vital to keeping us independent and strong! Hurtful also were the objections she and her family received from Vietnam veterans, who resented the Blassies for taking away their Unknown. 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. 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. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. So were dozens of Michaels old friends, classmates, and comrades in arms, along with thousands of others, including Vietnam veterans, who came to commemorate the return of a lost brother. The ability to match mtDNA between related individuals, and the fact that it does not degrade as rapidly as nuclear DNA, makes it a valuable tool in the identification of human remains. Michael Blassie The Final Mission. Test your Navy knowledge with this Navy history quiz by Military.com. Today, there is no body representing Vietnam at the tomb of the unknowns. I never dreamed Id never see Michael again., The Blassie siblings, 1961. He subsequently qualified as an A-37 Dragonfly pilot and served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, deployed to Southeast Asia. They said Michael had been killed. They saw the identification of Michaels remains as a loss for them. #HonorVeterans #VetLegacies. "At a moment of great crises in the history of the world, he gave of himself," Archbishop Justin Rigali said to about 350 friends, family members and current and former members of the military. (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. That Michael might be in the Tomb of the Unknown . A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Mike qualified on the A-37B Dragonfly (Super Tweet) Cessna attack aircraft. Blassie dropped in low for a bombing run on attacking forces when enemy anti-aircraft fire boomed from the ground. During a tour of Vietnam, he served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. Real soldiers visiting the tomb have a very different perspective on this memorial than I could hope to imagine. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. To Army scientists, these findings superseded any other evidence, such as documents or personal effects. Learn more about managing a memorial . He had been shot down near An Loc, Vietnam, in 1972.. And so it would have remained if a rookie CBS reporter named Vince Gonzalez hadnt run across Sampleys article about Blassie on the Internet. Sorry! I didnt even know how to go about college. They may have received last rights, families informed, etc, but the rest of us know little about those individuals. #inline-recirc-item--id-91b39784-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { Oops, we were unable to send the email. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. The first time, he was killed, his aircraft shot down while flying a mission during the Vietnam War in 1972. Blassie, a decorated pilot, was 24 when he died in May 1972. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? 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. Blassie, who was killed in Vietnam. I want to bring my son home.. Blassie was buried Saturday with full military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. There, a plaque holds words from the Gettysburg Address: "We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow this ground. f\j Weather. Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now After petitioning the United States Government for permission, his family had his body exhumed. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4245/michael-joseph-blassie. The Air Force told the Blassie family in St. Louis all they knew: their son had been killed in action, but his remains could not be recovered since he went down in enemy-held territory. His 138th combat mission ended near An Loc, South Vietnam, when the wing was blasted off his plane by enemy fire. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. It was so exciting," she says. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To use this feature, use a newer browser. 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.. They had to do more with less and that meant Michael was going to see a lot of combat. Instead of moving Michaels remains to the burial ground at Arlington, the family decided to have Michael re-interred at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery along the Mississippi River just south of the city. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? You grow apart sometimes during this kind of tragedy. An Army caisson carried his casket from the Capitol to the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 28, 1984. He served as a Tactical Aircraft Pilot and was assigned to the 8TH SPECIAL OPS SQDN, 377TH AIR BASE WING, 7TH AF. Yesterday I read an article about three WW1 soldiers buried in Copenhagen: https://www.thelocal.dk/20190305/the-little-known-story-of-the-first-world-war-soldiers-buried-in-copenhagen. William S. Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1998. The saga of the Vietnam crypt of the Tomb of the Unknown is perhaps the darkest chapter of the US Department of Defenses long-running effort to account for POW/MIAs. One of them told her once that their mission guarding the Unknowns is never really over. based on information from your browser. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Michael Joseph Townsend Sr. of Snow Hill, Maryland, born in Salisbury, Maryland, who passed away on February 23, 2023, at the age of 72, leaving to mourn family and friends. But I know each one had a life worth living. memorial page for 1LT Michael Joseph Blassie (4 Apr 1948-11 May 1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 4245, citing Jefferson Barracks National . Yet he was found five months after he was shot down and then buried without our knowledge in the Tomb of the Unknowns. The remains and associated materials were eventually turned over to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii for analysis and identification. On May 14, 1998, the remains were exhumed and tested, revealing the "unknown" soldier to be Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie. The government does not have the right to keep such information from the family., When I looked into all the documents and from my personal research, it was obvious that improper decisions were being made, and all of sudden Michael is the Unknown representing the missing from the Vietnam War. Sampley told them that remains had been discovered near Michaels crash site, along with items belonging to an Air Force pilot. Her father died in a traffic accident when she was 9 or 10. Unidentified remains from that war had been analyzed over a decade and a half. cemeteries found in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Mrs. The Unknown Soldier can be about more than a dwindling subclass of soldiers that disappeared without record. All rights reserved. Verify and try again. 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. United States Air Force Vietnam Veteran. He and Michael were very close. As is standard, all records pertaining to these remains were destroyed. They married in 1947 and had five children. 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