Page 106 - michael-ollis-album

Soldier from New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island killed in

line of duty in Afghanistan (photos/video)

silive.com/local/index.ssf /2013/08/soldier_f rom_new_dorp_neighbor.html

Marjorie Hack
Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis was killed in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, 24, of New Dorp has been killed in an insurgent attack in
Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced.

His parents, Robert and Linda Ollis of Burbank Avenue, were on vacation in Europe and are believed to be on their way
to Dover Air Force base in Delaware to receive their son's body. A neighbor who'd been taking in the family's mail told
Army personnel, when asked, that the Ollises were in Paris on holiday, according to another neighbor.

Ollis' father, Robert, is a veteran of Vietnam and belongs to the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 421. He received
a belated Bronze Star back in 2009.

According to news reports out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and posted on Syracuse.com, Ollis was an infantryman in the 2nd
Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. He was also a member of the 10th Mountain Division. Ollis
was killed Wednesday when insurgents attacked his unit with an IED (improvised explosive device), small arms and
indirect fire in Ghazni Province, the US Army base in Fort Drum reported.

Staten Island soldier Michael Ollis killed in Afghanistan

His is the 2,173 U.S. military death in Afghanistan since the conflict began, according to icasualties.org, which gets its
information from the Department of Defense.

According to Lee Covino who handles veterans affairs for the Staten Island Borough President's office, Ollis is the ninth
Staten Island soldier killed in action during the Gulf War era.

The Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Public Affairs Office has received confirmation of a dignified transfer of Staff
Sgt. Ollis today, Aug. 30, at 4:50 p.m. at Dover Air Force Base.

According to a report on Syracuse.com, Ollis previously deployed to Iraq in April 2008 and Afghanistan in June 2010. He
deployed again to Afghanistan this past January.

In 2009, the Advance posted photos of a welcome home party relatives threw for him when he returned home after 14
months in Iraq.

He joined the U.S. Army in August 2006. After training at Fort Hamilton in New York and at Fort Benning in Georgia, he
was assigned to Smith Barracks, Germany and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He arrived at Fort Drum in November 2011.

Ollis was awarded the Bronze Star, four Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement medals, the Valorous Unit
Award, the meritorious Unit Commendation, and two Army Good Conduct Medals, among others.
Neighbors who live near his parents on Burbank Avenue say the family always flies flags, including those representing
the U.S., the Cavalry and the U.S. Army, outside their home.

Alex Flint, a former US Marine, who also served in the Staten Island unit of the Army National Guard and retired from the
US Army Reserves after serving in Heidelberg Germany in the 1990s, said the family had "one of the neatest, cleanest
houses on the street."

Flint, a former teacher with the city's Department of Education, used the following words to describe Staff Sgt. Ollis: "He's