Only last Saturday, the 92nd New Yorker to have given his life in the service of his nation since 9/11 was buried on his home soil. His name was Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, and he enlisted in the Army when his country called — and was taken away from us in Afghanistan before he could see his 25th birthday.
Now we have fresh reason to celebrate this soldier. A new Army Times story makes clear Ollis’ gallantry and courage under fire. His actions during his last few moments on Earth speak to beautiful things: to the family who raised this young man, to the Army that trained him and to the willingness of soldiers, sailors and Marines to lay down their lives for another.
It all happened on Aug. 28, during an attack on Forward Operating Base Ghazni in Afghanistan. When a car bomb exploded and enemy fighters attacked, Sgt. Ollis — like our firefighters on 9/11 — ran toward the danger, not away from it. Among the enemy insurgents, 10 wore suicide vests.
One would take Ollis’ life. But in what the Army Times describes as “emotional interviews” after the attack, a Polish soldier made clear that Sgt. Ollis saved his life by stepping between him and the insurgent, so that when the insurgent’s vest detonated, Ollis was killed instead.
The Army is considering a Silver Star for Sgt. Ollis, one of America’s highest awards for valor.
People who read of Sgt. Ollis’ bravery may wonder. But not back home. At the funeral service for Ollis last Saturday, a priest told mourners, “It was no surprise to anyone that the little kid who played in Army fatigues . . . would put his life on the line to serve his country and to save the lives of men with whom he served.”
At this heartbreaking moment for this soldier’s family, we join all New Yorkers in saluting a son of Staten Island whose action reminds us that the free air we breathe exacts a high price from the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform.