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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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