13: THE LAST UNKNOWN
1. Ken Ringle, “Honored Symbol: Vietnam War’s Unknown Buried In Arlington Tomb,” The Washington Post, May 29, 1984.
2. “President’s Speech at Arlington Cemetery,” DVD, Video Control No. 06270-4T-W308-G52, RRL; William M. Hammond, The Unknown Serviceman of the Vietnam Era ( Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1985), 11–14.
3. Ibid.
4. All American women who died in Vietnam had been accounted for by this time.
5. “President’s Speech,” DVD G-50, G-52, G-53, RRL.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.; Ringle, “Honored Symbol”; Hammond, 11–14; Robert D. Hershey Jr., “One of 58,012 Vietnam Dead Joins the Unknowns,” The New York Times, May 29, 1984.
8. Hammond, 14; “Secretary of Defense Approves Recommendations Concerning The Vietnam Unknown,” Department of Defense Press Release No. 296–99, June 17, 1999. Fearing a spreading Communist threat, President Eisenhower sent the first American advisors to Vietnam in 1958; the war ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975.
9. John O. Marsh Jr. to Caspar W. Weinberger, June 16, 1982, “Unknown Serviceman from the Vietnam Era—Action Memorandum,” Folder “POW/MIA—Tomb of the Unknown (4),” Box 924089, Richard Childress Files, RRL.
10. S. 49, “A bill to amend title 38 of the United States Code in order to establish a National Cemetery System within the Veterans’ Administration, and for other purposes,” June 18, 1973, Library of Congress.
11. James T. Wooten, “Arlington Crypt Vacant, Awaiting Vietnam ‘Unknown,’” The New York Times, May 1, 1976.
12. Milton J. Bates et al., eds., Reporting Vietnam (New York: The Library of America, 1998), 2:793–99.
13. Reporting Vietnam, 2:798. More than 58,000 military personnel from the United States died in Southeast Asia between 1959 and 1973; some 47,000 of these deaths were the result of hostilities.
14. Rudy deLeon, former undersecretary of defense, interviewed by author, July 11, 2008; Wooten, “Arlington Crypt”; Caryle Murphy,“’Unknown’ Was Hard to Find,” The Washington Post, May 28, 1984.
15. Joseph Rehyansky, “The Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam War,” National Review, June 29, 1984.
16. “President’s Speech,” DVD, Video Control No. 06270-4T-W308-G50, G52, RRL.
17. Robert Mann, Forensic Detective: How I Cracked The World’s Toughest Cases (New York: Ballantine Books, 2006), 110–20; Department of Defense Briefing, “The Vietnam Unknown Soldier,” May 7, 1998,www.arlingtoncemetery.net/unk-vn33.htm.
18. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008, July 3, 2008; Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, July 5, 2007, June 17, 2008, Oct. 8, 2008.
19. “Now-Identified Vietnam Vet Was ‘A Natural,’ Fellow Soldiers Recall,” The Washington Post, June 30, 1998; Department of Defense News Briefing, “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” April 27, 1998,www.arlingtoncemetery.net/unk-vn46.htm.
20. “Now-Identified Vietnam Vet Was ‘A Natural.’”
21. Maj. Jim Connally to Mr. and Mrs. George Blassie, n.d., in Col. Patricia S. Blassie, “Air Force Airman Selected As The Vietnam Unknown Soldier—The Truth And Its Consequences,” thesis, Jan. 17, 2005, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, Appendix 2, hereafter “Blassie thesis.” One of the Cobra pilots who tried to recover Blassie’s remains on the day of his crash testified to the intense enemy fire. “I will never forget that day,” he told Charles Cragin, acting assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs. The pilot said he had fired 52 rounds of 17-pound rockets while trying to inspect Blassie’s crash site—and limped back to base with his helicopter’s hydraulic system badly damaged. Blassie’s plane, the pilot testified, was in “itty-bitty pieces.” Department of Defense News Briefing, “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” April 27, 1998,www.arlingtoncemetery.net/unk-vn46.htm.
22. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, Oct. 8, 2008.
23. Maj. Donald E. Lunday, “Memorandum for Record: Body Recovery,” Oct. 31, 1972, and Lunday“Memorandum for Record: Phonecon with Mr. Rogers, USA Mortuary, TSN,” Nov. 5, 1972, in Blassie thesis, Appendixes 15 and 14; Rudy deLeon, action memorandum to Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen,“The Vietnam Unknown in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers,” April 23, 1998, RdL Papers; Department of Defense News Briefing, “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” April 27, 1998,www.arlingtoncemetery.net/unk-vn46.htm.
24. “Certificate,” Capt. Richard S. Hess, n.d., detailing delivery of remains of Michael Blassie and evidence to Sgt. First Class Malcolm R. Biles, at Tan Son Nhut mortuary, Nov. 2, 1972, JW Papers.
25. DeLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998, RdL Papers.
26. John C. Rogers, skeletal chart, “BTB Blassie, Michael Joseph,” Central Identification Library, Hawaii, n.d. in Blassie thesis, Appendix 16.
27. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, Oct. 8, 2008; Mann, 98.
28. Mann, 95.
29. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, Oct. 8, 2008.
30. Reporting Vietnam, 2:793.
31. Johnie E. Webb, Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008; Mann, 96–98; Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, “History,”www.jpac.paccom.mil/index.php?page= mission _overview.
32. Robert B. Pickering and David Charles Bachman, The Use of Forensic Anthropology (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1987), 5.
33. Tadao Furue, “Special Anthropological Narrative: Processing of TSN 0673-72, Dec. 4, 1978, in Blassie thesis,” Appendix 16; Mann, 96–98.
34. Ibid.
35. Armed Services Graves Registration Office, “TSN 0673-72 BTB Blassie, Michael Joseph,” May 7, 1980, Blassie thesis,” Appendix 20.
36. Mann, 96–98.
37. DeLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
38. Mann, 98.
39. DeLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
40. Ibid.; Rudy deLeon, interviewed by author, July 11, 2008.
41. Furue, Dec. 4, 1978, in Blassie thesis.
42. Mann, 98, reports: “From the information available, scientists could neither prove nor disprove that the remains were Blassie’s.”
43. Blassie thesis, 30. New evidence was not to be found. The United States dispatched investigative teams from Hawaii in 1992 and 1994 to interview witnesses and search for clues in Blassie’s case. They found nothing—except for a practical-minded farmer using what was likely the plane’s impact crater as a watering hole. DeLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
44. John O. Marsh Jr., interviewed by author, July 21, 2008.
45. John O. Marsh Jr. to Caspar W. Weinberger, June 16, 1982, Folder “POW/MIA—Tomb of the Unknown (4),” Box 92409, Richard Childress Files, RRL.
46. Ibid.
47. Ann Mills Griffiths to Caspar W. Weinberger, July 26, 1982, Folder “POW/MIA—Tomb of the Unknown (2),” RAC Box 92409, Richard Childress Files, RRL.
48. Richard T. Childress to William P. Clark, Aug. 26, 1982,www.nationalalliance.org/Blassie/b820826.htm.
49. Caspar W. Weinberger to William P. Clark, Aug. 23, 1982, Folder “POW/MIA—Tomb of the Unknown (3),” RAC Box 85, Executive Secretariat, National Security Council: PA: Subject File: Records, RRL.
50. Carrie Brunosi, The Sentinel, 3, 3 (Aug.-Oct. 2001); logbook, March 23, 1983, Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery.
51. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008; Mann, 102–4. I have withheld the name of X-15 because there is still debate about whether he was AWOL when killed. In deference to his family, the Army fixed his time of death on July 27, 1970, the day before he was reported as a deserter. This allowed him to be buried with honors—but some investigators remain convinced that he was, in truth, a deserter.
52. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008.
53. Ibid; Mann, 104–6; deLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
54. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008; deLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
55. Caspar W. Weinberger to R
onald Reagan, March 16, 1984, Folder “Vietnam (April 1981–Sept. 1984),” RAC Box 11, Executive Secretariat, NSC: Records: Country File, RRL.
56. Karen Byrne Kinzey, historian, Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, interviewed by author, April 16, 2006.
57. Johnie E. Webb Jr., undated memorandum “TSN 0673-72 (X-26)” to Army Personnel Command, JW Papers. In an e-mail to the author July 22, 2008, Webb says that the memo was sent to Washington in March 1984 and that it went up the chain of command to John O. Marsh Jr., secretary of the Army.
58. John O. Marsh Jr. interviewed by author, July 21, 2008.
59. Webb’s warning note about the Vietnam Unknown, from JW Papers, appears below in its entirety:
TSN 0673-72 (X-26)
1. These partial remains consisting of approximately 9 % of the skeletal frame were recovered by Army Recon Team 1/48 from a plane crash site at Grid Coordinates UTM XT 716-904. Allegedly the team also recovered the ID card for the pilot of this one man aircraft. However, the ID card did not accompany these remains to the US Army Mortuary, the fate of the ID card has never been recovered.
2. The remains delivered to the Saigon Mortuary in a Believed to Be (BTB) status as those of the pilot were accompanied by “cut” remnants of a nomex flight suit, one man inflatable raft, one ammo pouch, remnants of a pistol holster, empty signal marker pouch, and remnants of a parachute. Attempts to identify these remains has [sic] resulted in disassociation with the BTB name. Research has led to disassociation with all but two unresolved casualties. Further research has resulted in passive association with a single casualty. Further physical anthropological evaluation for personal identity is not feasible due to the absolute paucity of key skeletal elements.
3. These remains should be disqualified for selection as the Unknown because of the past and present name associations.
60. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20 and July 3, 2008.
61. Johnie E. Webb Jr., memorandum of certification “Remains of TSN 0673-72 (X-26)” March 21, 1984, JW Papers.
62. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008.
63. Blassie thesis, 28–30.
64. Johnie E. Webb Jr., “Memo for Record: Documents to Be Removed from X-26 File and Placed in the Blassie File,” from Webb’s telephone conversation with Lt. Col. David Peixotto, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, April 4, 1984, JW Papers.
65. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008.
66. Ibid.
67. At the time of ceremonies for Blassie, the U.S.S. Brewton was classified as an ocean escort; it was later designated a missile frigate.
68. “President’s Speech,” DVD, Video Control No. 06270-4T-W308-G52, RRL.
69. Pat Blassie is now an Air Force colonel working in the Pentagon as executive officer to the chief of the Air Force Reserve.
70. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, July 5, 2007 and Oct. 8, 2008.
71. Ted Sampley, “The Vietnam Unknown Soldier can be Identified,” U.S. Veteran Dispatch, July 14, 1994. A POW/MIA activist, Sampley is not known for journalistic restraint. While his reporting on the Blassie case has held up, he sometimes sees conspiracies where others do not. During the 2008 presidential election, for example, he happily spread the discredited rumor that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim and, in a demonstration of his non-partisanship, he expressed the opinion that Sen. John McCain was a Manchurian candidate controlled by Communists. Jim Rutenberg, “The Man Behind the Whispers About Obama,” The New York Times, Oct. 12, 2008.
72. Ted Sampley, interviewed by author, June 15, 2007.
73. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, Oct. 8, 2008.
74. Ibid.; George E. Atkinson, “Memo for Record,” Dec. 20, 1994, in Blassie thesis, Appendix 11.
75. Mann, 108.
76. Ted Sampley, interviewed by author, June 15, 2007. Although much of the CBS report was based on research Sampley had shared with the network, CBS did not credit Sampley’s contribution.
77. Blassie thesis, 18–19.
78. “Update: Unknown No Longer,” CBS News,www .cbsnews .com/stories/1998/04/07/national/printable6793.shtml.
79. Blassie Thesis, 19.
80. Ibid.
81. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, Oct. 8, 2008.
82. “Vietnam Unknown May Be Air Force pilot,” Jan. 20, 1998,www.arlingtoncemetery.net/unk-vn04.htm.
83. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, Oct. 8, 2008.
84. Rudy deLeon, interviewed by author, July 11, 2008; deLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
85. Rudy deLeon, interviewed by author, July 11, 2008.
86. Ibid.; deLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
87. DeLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998. The task force did not try to fix responsibility for the Reagan administration’s handling of the Blassie case, which the CBS report described as a politically motivated cover-up. The case might be more fairly characterized as an instance of good intentions gone awry. As political pressure mounted, Unknown candidates fell off the list, and Pentagon appointees failed to heed the warning signs in their zeal to deliver an Unknown for President Reagan and Vietnam veterans. Keeping to the high road, deLeon’s task force gave John Marsh and other Pentagon officials the benefit of the doubt. “We have no reason to question the decisions reached in 1984 concerning the selection of Vietnam War remains for interment in the Tomb,” the report said.“Given the limited technology at the time and the information available, the X-26 remains were at that point unidentifiable.” The escape clause, of course, is “at that point,” which did not allow for the possibility that Blassie might be identified at some future time; this distinction was the basis for Johnie Webb’s objection.
88. Mann, 112.
89. Col. Patricia S. Blassie, interviewed by author, Oct. 8, 2008.
90. Jean and Pat Blassie provided blood samples for the DNA testing, which matched the mitochondrial DNA sequence from Michael Blassie’s bones. At the time the tests were done, in 1998, the method was relatively new, having been approved only in 1995 as a reliable clinical means of legal identifications. DeLeon, action memorandum, April 23, 1998.
91. “Remains of Vietnam Unknown Identified,” The Washington Post, June 29, 1998.
92. “Veterans Groups Oppose the Attempt by Blassie Family to Obtain Top Medal,” Aug. 8, 1998,www.arlingtoncemetery.net./unk-vn61.htm.
93. The Blassie family fought to keep the Medal of Honor for their kinsman, arguing that the award was given to him as the Vietnam Unknown, a position in which he served for fourteen years. Bonnie Edwards, “U.S. Stripped Medal of Honor from Unknown Vietnam Soldier,” U.S. Veteran Dispatch, June-Oct. 1998.
94. Jim Garramone, “Vietnam Unknown Crypt at Arlington to Remain Empty,” American Forces Press Service, June 17, 1999.
95. Tom Holland, scientific director of the Central Identification Laboratory, cautions that the 400 boxes do not represent 400 sets of remains. Of 1,000 boxes in the lab, about 40 percent are Vietnam War–related cases. M.E.reports:
One box might contain 4-5 individuals; conversely, one individual might be in 5–6 boxes. In addition our 1,000 boxes include several hundred unidentified Asians. We also have boxes of remains turned over by governments (such as the 208 boxes turned over by the N Koreans, which probably represent the commingled remains of 400-plus Americans), or private citizens that have defied identification attempts. Many of these will never be identified, but some will—each year we identify 1–2 of these 20-year-old cases. That’s what makes coming up with a number so vexing.
The boxes do not represent a backlog, Holland says.
Every box has been analyzed and everyone that we can identify has been identified. The reasons the boxes are still on the shelves are varied: we haven’t completed the excavation, we’re awaiting DNA results, we’re awaiting a family reference sample, we’ve already identified the man [and] are waiting on the family to decide
disposition, or we’re simply stymied and are awaiting new information or a breakthrough in technology. Bottom line, we analyze every case as soon as it comes through the door. E-mail to author from Tom Holland, July 3, 2008.
96. Johnie E. Webb Jr., interviewed by author, June 20, 2008.
14: WAR COMES TO ARLINGTON
1. Darrell Stafford, interviewed by author, April 1, 2009.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.; Steve Vogel, The Pentagon: A History (New York: Random House, 2007) 449.
4. Scott Wilson and Al Kamen, “Global War on Terror Is Given New Name,” Washington Post, March 25, 2009.
5. Stafford interview; “Presidential Address to the Nation, Oct. 7, 2001,”http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011007-8.html; Guy Raz, “Defining the War on Terror,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, Nov. 1, 2006; John Judis,“What is the War on Terror?” New Republic Online, June 5, 2006; William Safire, “On Language: Asymmetry,” The New York Times, Oct. 21, 2001.
6. Stafford interview.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Jim Garamone, “Remains of Pentagon Attack Victims Buried at Arlington,” American Forces Press Service, Sept. 12, 2002; Connie Cass, Associated Press, “Ceremony Honors Pentagon Victims,” Sept. 13, 2002.
10. Ibid.
11. Stafford interview.
12. “Kip Paul Taylor,”http://arlingtoncemetry.net/kiptaylor.html.
13. Joseph L. Galloway, “Family Tragedy Ends in Arlington Cemetery,” undated article, Knight Ridder Newspapers.
14. Garamone,“Remains”; Cass, “Ceremony.”
15. Fifteen servicemen and one servicewoman killed in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, more popularly called the Persian Gulf War of 1990–91, are buried at Arlington. Another nine, whose remains could not be identified but who are known to have died, are honored with headstones in the cemetery’s memorial section. Of all the conflicts in which the United States has been involved since World War II, the 1990–91 Gulf War was one of the most conventional, with a clear, narrowly defined objective, an overwhelming deployment of forces, and a relatively low number of fatalities. Out of some 340,000 Americans sent to fight, 293 were killed, 148 of those in battle.
On Hallowed Ground Page 42