The known ‘Unknown’

“We wanted to know what happened to Michael. But finally finding out was a shock,” says Patricia Blassie, sister of Lt. Michael Blassie, who died in the Vietnam War in 1972.

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U.S. Air Force 1st. Lt. Michael J. Blassie and T-38 jet trainer in an undated photo. The 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy had flown 130 combat missions in Vietnam in 1972 when he was shot down and killed. An Air Force chaplain told his family that Blassie had been killed in action, but his body could not be recovered. That would be the same official explanation the family would hear for the next 26 years.

FAMILY PHOTO / FAMILY PHOTO

A joint services honor guard accompanies the casket bearing the remains of the Vietnam War's "unknown soldier" as it makes its way through Arlington National Cemetery on May 28, 1984, to the Tomb of the Unknowns. Bone fragments discovered at Blassie’s crash site in Vietnam were sent to Hawaii, where, because of now-discontinued methods, they were “designated unknown.” The fragments were later chosen for interment at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

CHARLES TASNADI / ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Ronald Reagan, center, bows his head during a moment of silence for the unknown soldier in the Rotunda of the Capitol on May 25, 1984. Later at the burial ceremony, Reagan assured the families of soldiers missing in action that the effort to find their loved ones would not end. “We write no last chapters,” he said. “We close no books. We put away no final memories.”

Anonymous / ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Today, we pause to embrace him and all who served so well in a war whose end offered no parades, no flags, and so little thanks,” said President Ronald Reagan at the burial ceremony.

BOB DAUGHERTY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Visitors pass the casket of the Vietnam War's unknown soldier on May 27, 1984, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. In 1994, Patricia Blassie, then a captain in the Air Force, got a call from a former Green Beret who said he had discovered that her brother was buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns. “I thought this couldn’t be true,” says Patricia Blassie. “We couldn’t imagine the U.S. government would actually bury a known soldier in the Tomb of the Unknowns. It didn’t make sense.”

LANA HARRIS / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Blassie’s grave site near St. Louis, with his name restored. Blassie was buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in 1998.

Tim Parker / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

The Vietnam Unknown’s coffin after its disinterment from Arlington National Cemetery in 1998. Tests were performed at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The results showed a perfect match with DNA samples provided by Blassie’s mother, Jean, and his oldest sister, Judy.

NANCY ANDREWS / THE WASHINGTON POST

Michael Blassie’s family: Front, from left, Mary Blassie, mother Jean Blassie and Patricia Blassie. In back, Judy Blassie and George Blassie Jr. in 1998. George Blassie accompanied his older brother’s remains on the flight to St. Louis.

Tim Parker / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

George Blassie, Jean Blassie and Patricia Blassie watch as the remains of an unknown soldier are removed from Arlington National Cemetery in 1998.

SUSAN WALSH / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jean Blassie, mother Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie, removes the cover of her son’s grave marker during his burial service July 11, 1998, in St. Louis. On the left is her daughter Judy, standing behind is her son George Blassie and on the right is daughter Mary. Hundreds of veterans, family members and friends gathered for the ceremony.

JAMES A. FINLEY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Boy Scout Keven Outman places a flag at Blassie’s head stone in observance of Memorial Day in 2005.

JAMES A. FINLEY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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