Episode 14: "We Write No Last Chapters, We Close No Books"

President Reagan was very anxious to inter an Unknown Soldier from Vietnam, partly because he hoped it would help veterans of that war find closer and allow them, and the United States put the divisive conflict behind them. This was part of the reason so much pressure was put on the Central Identification Laboratory - Hawaii was pressured to find one.

Despite the insistence from CIL-HI scientists that with a little more research the one Unknown remaining from Vietnam would be able to be identified, the Department of Defense went ahead and buried the remains known as X-26 on Memorial Day 1984.

MAJ Johnie Webb, CIL-HI commander, was ordered to destroy the forensic evidence that could potentially identify X-26. Believing the remains would eventually be identified, he could not, in good conscience, destroy the evidence. Instead, he placed the dog tag chain fragment, signal marker pouch, match holder, survival guide, and ammunition pouch into the casket with X-26's 6 bones.

In 1998, there was strong evidence that X-26 was Air Force First Lieutenant Michael Blassie. While there were organizations that argued against opening the Tomb of the Unknowns, his sister, Air Force Captain Pat Blassie, argued that while the Tomb of the Unknown is an honorable place, it is not honorable for a known service member. X-26 was eventually exhumed, DNA tested, and positively identified to be Michael Blassie. 

Michel's mother, Jean led the charge to have her son removed from Arlington and was able to bring him home to St. Louis to be buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. She passed away in 2013.

Michael Blassie now has a headstone with his name on it. The backside of the headstone lists several of his military achievements on it and recognizes his time as the Vietnam War Unknown.

Since Blassie was removed from the Unknown crypt, it has remained empty as scientific advancements make it much more likely that in time, all remaining unknowns from Vietnam will be identified. Today, the slab that covered Blassie's remains is inscribed with the words: Honoring and Keeping Faith with American Missing Servicemen 1958-1975.