This article first appeared in the July 1994 paper edition of the U.S.Veteran Dispatch and again two-years later in the July 1996 edition.
In 1984, as a result of the U.S. government's eagerness to lay to rest aVietnam Unknown Soldier, it interred the remains of a missing Americanservicemen that today can be identified and accounted for through the U.S.government Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CIL-HI).
The interment of that "unidentifiable" U.S. servicemen inArlington National Cemetery, beside the Unknown from World War I, World War IIand Korea was supposed to be the ultimate symbolic gesture in healing thePOW/MIA issue, the Vietnam War's "sorest wound."
Instead, as it turns out, the entombment of the Vietnam Unknown was at thevery best premature and at worst a politically expedient attempt to furtherclose the books on the POW/MIA issue.
On April 13, 1984, the Defense Department chose a Vietnam Unknown from oneof four sets of remains then at CIL-HI. Because of the progress inidentification techniques, the Defense Department waived an administrativecriteria, which had been followed in earlier wars, that only remains that were80% complete were selected as Unknown Soldiers.
With today's advancements in technology and with CIL-HI boasting of itsability to identify remains of American servicemen from evidence as minute as atooth fragment, remains that are 80% complete would be the worst choice for anUnknown Soldier.
The remains finally chosen by CIL-HI to be the Vietnam Unknown had beenfound by a South Vietnamese Army Reconnaissance team in late 1972 near An Loc,Binh Long Province, which is located 60 miles north of Saigon. The remains,which consisted of six bones, or only 3% of a skeleton, were eventually giventhe number by CIL-HI of X-26. Along with the X-26 remains, the reconnaissanceteam had brought in the remnants of a parachute, a flight suit, a pistol holderand a one man inflatable raft.
CIL-HI determined that X-26 was a Caucasian man who had been between 26 and36 years old at the time of death.
In the surrounding area of An Loc where X-26 had been found, there had beennumerous American servicemen reported missing in action, bodies not returned.
There was at least two C130s, several helicopters and an A37 fighter jetthat went down in that general area during the war prior to the Fall of 1972.The remnants which were found with the bone fragments of X-26 are importantpieces of a puzzle which when placed together point specifically to theidentification of the Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam War.
The piece of a flight suit indicates that the Vietnam Unknown was an airmanand evidence of the existence of a parachute rules out the possibility of ahelicopter crew, thus focusing on the aircrews of the C130s and the pilot ofthe lone A37. The existence of a one man inflatable raft can be argued as astrong reason to rule out the crews of the C130s, leaving only the pilot of theA37, who would have been equipped with a one man raft.
In May 1972, near An Loc, an A37, flown by U.S. Air Force 1Lt. Michael J.Blassie, was hit by ground fire. 1Lt. Blassie's wingman saw him crash into theground and witnessed an explosion and fire. He did not see any signs thatindicated the survival of 1Lt. Blassie.
In October, 1972, the U.S. government sent a search team to the crashsite(probably in response to the remains recovered by the South VietnameseReconnaissance team) and found "identification media that correlated tothe case."
In November, 1992, the U.S. government again visited the area of thecrashsite, and found a witness who had heard about the incident. The witness,according to a U.S. government source, took U.S. government representatives towhat was believed to be the exact crashsite. The crashsite, according to thesource, had been severely scavenged and U.S. government investigators wereunable to find anything significant pertaining to the Blassie incident. Thecrash crater, according to the source, was being used by a local farmer for awatering hole.
Many facts pertaining to 1Lt. Blassie's shootdown closely match those of theUnknown Soldier. CIL-HI determined the Unknown Soldier to be a male Caucasianand between 26-33 years old. 1Lt. Blassie, was a male Caucasian who, at thetime he became missing in action, was 24 years old. Remnants found with theremains of the Unknown Soldier indicate that he was a fighter pilot. 1Lt.Blassie, from St. Louis, Mo., is the only fighter pilot listedKilled-In-Action/Body-Not-Returned within a 2500-square mile area of where theremains of the Unknown Soldier were found.
If the experts at CIL-HI can identify American MIAs from minute toothfragments, as they claim, then they should be able to right this wrong bydetermining through DNA if the remains of 1Lt. Blassie is in the tomb of theVietnam Unknown Soldier.
