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Said Kelly Manzolillo of Severna Park, Md.: “This crowd here today is just a testament to how many lives my brother
touched,”

Attendees Wednesday night included members of the event’s sponsor the Staten Island Veterans Group, Rolling
Thunder and the NYPD and other law enforcement groups.

Rep. Michael Grimm, who served in the Marines during Desert Storm, thanked the many veterans present for their
service and asked everyone to pray for the Ollis family, as well as others who never came home.

“The price is too expensive,” said Grimm. “Freedom, we always say, it’s not free. It’s the blood of young Americans. It’s
just too expensive, and this young hero should have come home and he didn’t; he paid the ultimate sacrifice.”

James Carter, 26, of Rossville, a member of the motorcycle club, paid homage to his Petrides classmate.
“Knowing Mike for the past 14 years of my life has been my extreme pleasure; being one of his best friends for the past
12 years has been my honor. Myself, my family and all our friends, our community and the whole world, are now a duller
place without his smile ... to light up the darkness and show us the way.”

Staten Island’s fallen heroes

More than 6,700 U.S. service members have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Nine of
them — including Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, 24, of New Dorp — had ties to Staten Island.

Army Sgt. Michael DiRaimondo

DiRaimondo, who grew up in California but lived a short while on Staten Island while his father was attending college
here, was killed on Jan. 8, 2004, in Iraq. He was 22.

Navy Petty Officer Scott McHugh

McHugh, who lived in West Brighton before moving to Florida in 1986, was killed on May 2, 2004, in Iraq. It was a few
days after his 33rd birthday.

Army Pvt. Brian Grant

Grant, a Pleasant Plains native who later lived in North Carolina and Texas, was killed on Nov. 26, 2004, in Iraq. He was
31.

Army Pvt. Nils George Thompson

Thompson, a New Brighton native who moved to a 100-acre farm in Pennsylvania with his family in 2000, was killed on
Aug. 4, 2005, in Iraq. It was a day after his 19th birthday.

Army Sgt. Ian Sanchez
Sanchez, who was born in Port Richmond and later moved to Castleton Corners, was killed June 16, 2006, in
Afghanistan. He was 26.

Army Pfc. Collin Mason

Mason, a South Beach resident, was killed on July 1, 2006, in Iraq. He was 20.

Army Sgt. Yevgeniy Ryndych

Ryndych, who was born in Ukraine and lived in Willowbrook, was killed on Dec. 6, 2006, while patrolling the streets of
Ramadi in Iraq. He was 24. His fiancée learned of his death the day an engagement ring arrived in the mail.

Marine Cpl. Thomas Saba

Saba, a Grymes Hill native who moved to Toms River, N.J., in the late 1990s, was killed on Feb. 7, 2007, in Iraq. He was
30.