Michael Blassie was born in St. Louis, Missouri to George and Jean Blassie. Being the oldest of five children, Michael was not only favored by our parents, but by us all.

After a successful academic and athletic 4 years at St. Louis University High School, Michael received a nomination to attend the United States Air Force Academy, graduating with the great Class of 1970.

At the United States Air Force Academy, Michael found his love for flying and graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant. Determined to be a pilot, he took off to train at Columbus Air Force Base, where he received his pilot wings.

After pilot training it was off to survival training prior to being sent to Vietnam to serve with the 8th Special Operations Squadron, Bien Hoa Air Base, flying the A-37 Dragonfly.

Flying his 132nd mission during one of the most intense battles of the Vietnam War – Operation Linebacker 1, the Battle of An Loc – Michael’s aircraft was hit by ground enemy fire. According to the flight lead, there was no communication from Michael or attempt to eject as his aircraft exploded on impact in enemy-held territory. The helicopter team was caught in a murderous hail of fire and was unable to pull anything out of the wreckage.

The Air Force notified the Blassie Family of Michael’s death and delivered the horrifying news that his remains would not be returned to us.

Nearly 5 1/2 months after Michael’s aircraft was shot down, a Vietnamese Reconnaissance Team was sent to Michael’s crash site. His remains, along with his artifacts and identification card, were sent to the U.S. Mortuary in Saigon.

One year following his death, the Air Force honored Michael’s service to our country by naming a building after him called Blassie Hall – at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi – which is where he earned his pilot wings.

In 1973, Congress directed the Secretary of Defense to select an unknown Vietnam serviceman and in 1975, a crypt was built at Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the Vietnam Unknown. A request that would not be fulfilled for another 11 years.

After the U.S. pulled out of Saigon, Michael’s remains were sent to the Army’s Central Identification Laboratory at Camp Samae San, Thailand. In 1976, the laboratory was relocated to Hawaii along with Michael. In 1978, Tadao Furue, Chief Physical Anthropologist, used “morphological approximation” to determine Michael’s age, height, and other characteristics from bone fragments. Michael missed Furue’s calculations by two years and ½ of an inch. A detrimental error, that later stripped Michael of his name in 1980, calling him X-26 – Unknown.

In 1982, Michael’s name was placed on the Vietnam Wall at the outset of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Washington, D.C., with a cross symbol designating he was still missing.

After mounting pressure to find an Unknown from Vietnam, the Reagan Administration made it a priority to select a serviceman from the Army’s Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

On Memorial Day 1984, after laying-in-state in our nation’s Capital Rotunda for three days, the Vietnam Unknown traveled to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery–where President Reagan presided over the soldier’s interment. The streets were lined with hundreds of thousands of veterans, families, patriotic Americans, and elected officials.

In 1986, Susan Sheehan published a book called, A Missing Plane, which detailed very specific details about the Vietnam Unknown including the day the Unknown was shot down, where he was found, and what artifacts were found with the remains.

My mother, Jean Blassie, received a phone call from Ted Sampley, a Green Beret who served in Vietnam, regarding his belief (and evidence) that the Vietnam Unknown ceremonially buried in D.C. was Michael Blassie.

My family received a second phone call, this one from Vince Gonzales, a CBS Investigative Reporter. He read A Missing Plane, did his own research, and also believed that Michael was serving as the Vietnam representative in the Tomb.

The evidence suggesting Michael to be the Vietnam Unknown became so substantial that my mother called a family meeting. Alongside my siblings, we determine that if it were us, Michael would come find us.

At that point, we made a pact and said through thick and thin we would stick together to accomplish the mission of bringing Michael home.

We went public with the story on CBS National News with the message, “The trail leads to the Tomb. We want to know the truth. We want to bring Michael home.”

After establishing a task force to investigate our claim, the Department of Defense agreed to exhume the remains of the Vietnam Unknown and perform a DNA test. On May 14th, with great military honors, the Vietnam Unknown was disinterred from the Tomb.

Through my mother’s DNA, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology came to the conclusion of “one of the closest matches the scientists had seen to date.” After 26 years, Jean Blassie could finally bring her son home.

The long-awaited celebration of 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie’s life, service, and return home to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Alongside my family and 5,000 people that came to pay their respects, we accomplished our mission of honoring Michael, his name, and his service to this country.