United States Air Force Color Guard carry the remains of USAF First Lieutenant Michael Blassie's body from the rear of the hearse to his final resting place at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. 1LT Blassie was shot down and killed in South Vietnam on May 11th, 1972. A

DigitalArchivalResource

United States Air Force Color Guard carry the remains of USAF First Lieutenant Michael Blassie's body from the rear of the hearse to his final resting place at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. 1LT Blassie was shot down and killed in South Vietnam on May 11th, 1972. A mix up with dog tags and body identification led the remains listed as Unknown and buried in the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery (Not shown). Using DNA testing on May 14th, 1998, the remains were indentified as those of 1LT Blassie and services were held in his honor. This image is seen in the September 1998 edition of AIRMAN Magazine.

1998

The original finding aid described this photograph as: Base: Saint Louis State: Missouri (MO) Country: United States Of America (USA) Scene Camera Operator: MSGT Val Gempis, USAF Release Status: Released to Public

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SNAC Resource ID: 11625738

National Archives at College Park

Related Entities

There are 1 Entities related to this resource.

Blassie, Michael Joseph, 1948-1972

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65822cn (person)

Michael Joseph Blassie (April 4, 1948 – May 11, 1972) was a United States Air Force officer who was killed in action during the Vietnam War 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. After his remains were identified by DNA testing in 1998, his remains were moved to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in South St. Louis County, Missouri. ...