Sources: Remains from Tomb of Unknowns ID'd As Those Of Air Force Pilot
By Jamie McIntyre/CNN
WASHINGTON (June 29) -- DNA tests have determined remains of the Vietnam veteran taken from the Tomb of the Unknowns last month, are those of Lt. Michael Blassie, an Air Force pilot, sources tell CNN.
Blassie, a 24-year-old A-37 fighter pilot, was shot down over in May 1972 near An Loc, about 60 miles north of Saigon.
A few months later a South Vietnamese patrol found his wallet, near a crash site where some bones believed to be Blassie's were also recovered, but at the time medical tests could not confirm his identity.
Blassie's family had requested the Pentagon exhume the remains for more definitive tests using modern DNA technology.
Blassie's remains were removed from the tomb at Arlington National Cemetery May 14.
The Tomb of the Unknowns is considered the most hallowed grave at America's most sacred military cemetery. It is home to the unidentified remains of soldiers from America's major 20th-century wars.
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