DNA testing has proven that the remains which were buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery are those of United States Air Force First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie.
Lieutenant Blassie's remains were returned to his family on Friday, July 10, 1998, and were buried in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday, July 11, 1998.
REST IN PEACE!
Keven Outman, a Boy Scout and member of the Greater St. Louis Area Council, places a flag at the head stone of Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie Sunday, May 29, 2005, at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, as part of the 55th annual Memorial Day observance. Blassie, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, was shot down in the vicinity of An Loc in South Vietnam, May 11, 1972. His remains were found later at the crash site. Blassie's remains were placed in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery until sophisticated identification techniques identifed him as the unknown soldier. St. Louis area scouts placed 152,000 flags at the head stones More than 4,000 scouts took part in the ceremony.
The
Blassie Family bids farewell to
First
Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie
St.
Louis, Missouri, Saturday, July 11, 1998
Courtesy
of CBS News And US Department of Defense
Gravesite photos courtesy of Richard Engel
Photo
Courtesy of United States Air Force
