WW I German Prisoners Come to Hot Springs, N.C.-- Part 1: From German Ocean Liners

I have been writing about the Chattanooga National Cemetery in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog this past week or so.  One of our last two WW II Medal of Honor recipients, Coolidge was recently buried there as was Desmond Doss, another WW II Medal of Honor winner.  He was made famous in the movie "Hacksaw Ridge."

Also, eight members of the Civil War's Andrews' Raiders are buried there.  They are the ones who stole the Confederate locomotive and were chased across northern Georgia.

Another thing I found of interest about the Chattanooga National Cemetery is that there is a monument put up by Nazi Germany on the grounds honor German prisoners who died in the United States during World War I.

From the June 9, 2014, Appalachian History. Net  "First World War I POWs arrive at Hot Springs, NC" by Dave Tabler.

On June 8, 1917, the first of 2,300 German prisoners arrived by train at Hot Springs to begin life in an internment camp.  Their civilian merchant ships had been docked at various  American ports two months earlier when the United States entered World War I.

At that time, the government seized those vessels and declared the crews of those ships to be "alien enemies."

--Cooter

Michael Joseph Blassie (Formerly Unknown Vietnam Soldier)-- Part 3

The remains stayed at the Tomb of the Unknowns until 1998.

All along, there was the thought that the remains may have been those of Michael Blassie.  A CBS news report in January 1998 claimed it was Blassie.  His family secured permission and Blassie was exhumed on May 14, 1998.

DNA testing proved the remains were his.

On July 10, 1998, the remains were sent to St. Louis and reinterred at Jefferson Barracks national Cemetery.  The Medal of Honor, however, was not transferred.

From Find-A-Grave:  The grave is in plot section 85, Site 1.