One Army commander called Ollis a "Great American" and Rep. Michael Grimm said the New Dorp man displayed the "ultimate act of heroism."
Ollis, 24, died in Afghanistan Aug. 28 protecting a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber during an attack on their base that according to Army Times, included "grenades, rockets and a 3,000-pound bomb."
SSG Michael Ollis from New Dorp, New York
SSG Ollis served with: 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light)
Born in , Ranger Ollis was 24 years old at the time of his death in 2013.
Complete biography is below the photo gallery
SSG Michael Ollis 's Biography
One Army commander called Ollis a "Great American" and Rep. Michael Grimm said the New Dorp man displayed the "ultimate act of heroism."
Ollis, 24, died in Afghanistan Aug. 28 protecting a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber during an attack on their base that according to Army Times, included "grenades, rockets and a 3,000-pound bomb."
During his military service, SSG Michael Ollis also served in 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light)
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http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/army_times_staten_island_soldi.html
Report: Staten Island soldier Michael Ollis died while protecting another soldier from a suicide bomber (photos)
Fallen Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis returns home to Hanley Funeral Home as family, friends and service members arrive to honor him with a motorcade including Rolling Thunder along New Dorp Lane. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)
Jan Somma-Hammel | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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on September 17, 2013 at 4:52 PM, updated September 18, 2013 at 7:52 AM
STATEN ISLAND LOSES A HERO
Staten Island lays to rest its fallen hero, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis
A somber procession home for hero son
400 points of light for Staten Island's fallen Sgt. Ollis
Mom 'proud' as tributes pour in for fallen Staten Island soldier Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis
Soldier from New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island killed in line of duty in Afghanistan
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Everyone knew Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis was a hero, but new details have surfaced documenting the leadership, selflessness and bravery that cost him his life.
One Army commander called Ollis a "Great American" and Rep. Michael Grimm said the New Dorp man displayed the "ultimate act of heroism."
Ollis, 24, died in Afghanistan Aug. 28 protecting a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber during an attack on their base that according to Army Times, included "grenades, rockets and a 3,000-pound bomb."
The Fort Drum, N.Y., soldier, of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), stepped into the path of an unnamed Polish officer, blocking him from the suicide vest of an insurgent who had raided Forward Operating Base Ghazni.
"In emotional interviews with investigators, the Polish officer repeatedly praised SSG Ollis and credited him with saving his life," according to an Army account of the Aug. 28 action obtained by Army Times.
"Unfortunately, we lost a great American there from 10th Mountain Division in that attack, but the defenders did extraordinarily well," said Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the No. 2 commander for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Milley is a former commander of the 10th Mountain Division.
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Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, 24, of New Dorp, died saving another soldier.
In a ceremony on Sunday at the base, four American and two Polish army soldiers were recognized for valor in the attack, according to the Army Times, "which began when a car bomb breached the base's eastern perimeter wall, allowing 10 insurgents in suicide vests to infiltrate the compound."
The Army Times gave this account of the attack:
The massive blast from the car bomb reverberated across the post at 3:54 a.m. on Aug. 28, kicking off an assault from the east, west and north sides, as insurgents rained mortar shells, shoulder-fired rockets and hand grenades from outside the post, according to Army accounts.
Though it's highly unlikely insurgents would have been able to overrun the base, it holds strategic importance as ISAF's local headquarters and a traffic hub to Gardez and Khost to the east.
Troops who headed to the blast site to aid the wounded found insurgents in suicide vests with assault rifles who had poured through the breach.
The two sides locked in 10 minutes of close combat as coalition troops fought through gunshot and shrapnel wounds.
Meanwhile, Ollis -- who first accounted for his men in a bunker -- raced toward the bomb blast's massive white smoke plume and the sound of gunfire.
Ollis linked up with a Polish officer he did not know and then with a team of special forces soldiers who had killed eight of the insurgents wearing suicide vests.
A ninth suicide bomber emerged from behind a group of containers, threw a grenade and was killed.
A 10th emerged from behind some other containers near the Polish officer and Ollis, who was the closer of the two.
"As Staff Sgt. Ollis stepped toward the insurgent, he stepped in front of the Polish officer, thereby blocking him," when the insurgent's vest detonated, according to the Army's account.
In the attack, Ollis and a Polish soldier were killed. Ten Polish soldiers and dozens of Afghans were reportedly wounded.
Afghan forces averted a larger tragedy by finding and neutralizing a second car bomb near the base, according to the Army. Two Afghan soldiers received certificates of appreciation for rendering the second car bomb safe.
Ollis' comrades told Army Times they were not surprised that Ollis, who joined the Army in 2006 and had previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, died saving the life of another soldier.
They praised Ollis as courageous and diligent, and said he felt a genuine sense of responsibility for keeping his soldiers safe.
"That was the way he was brought up, and I think it would make everybody proud to know that he went out there to take the fight to the enemy," said Sgt. 1st Class Tim Sireno, who served with Ollis in Afghanistan in 2010.
"He still protected his men and was leading from the front," said Sireno, now with the 4th Ranger Training Brigade. "You couldn't ask for anything more."
Said Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn): "If there was any doubt -- and there shouldn't have been -- this man was a hero. A hero in the truest sense of the word."
Grimm underscored that Ollis' actions had nothing to do with his unit advancing, "this was about protecting people we don't even know...The congressman noted that Ollis' heroism "epitomizes why we are exceptional" and is symbolic of the men and women of the U.S. military who defend our right to freedom.
Said Grimm: "It's the ultimate act of heroism and a reminder that freedom isn't free."
Ollis has since been nominated for a Silver Star, the third highest military decoration for valor, an Army source told Army Times. The nomination is working its way through Ollis' chain of command in Afghanistan.
"It's more than well-deserved," said Grimm. "He [Ollis] has made us all so proud."
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http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/archives/2013/09/18/drum-soldier-who-saved-polish-officer-tapped-for-silver-star/78542022/
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