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Photos: Staten Island lays to rest its fallen hero, Staff Sgt.

Michael H. Ollis

silive.com/news/index.ssf /2013/09/a_true_american_hero_f allen_st.html

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Even when he was just 6 years old, the towheaded boy they called "Mikey Muscles" on
Burbank Avenue in New Dorp didn't hesitate to charge into the scrum whenever the kids on the block played.

So, those who knew him best wept and offered a knowing prayer when they learned 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Michael H.
Ollis, who once rode his Big Wheel like a man possessed at 7 a.m. in his neighborhood was killed late last month by
insurgents in Afghanistan.

"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 the men with whom he served," the Rev. Stephen Koeth, a family friend and former
Burbank Street resident told mourners Saturday at Ollis' funeral.

"Even as a boy, he exhibited a fearlessness and toughness well beyond his age and size."
Hundreds of relatives, friends, neighbors, military personnel and sympathetic Islanders who never met Ollis packed Our
Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church in New Dorp to pay their final respects to the fallen hero.

An overflow crowd spilled onto New Dorp Lane where the ceremony was broadcast on speakers.

The lifelong New Dorp resident and seven-year U.S. Army veteran was killed in action on Aug. 28 in Ghazni Province
when his unit was attacked by insurgents with an improvised explosive device, small arms and indirect fire. Army
officials told his parents that Ollis, a squad leader, had sacrificed his life to save other members of his group.

He is the ninth service member with ties to Staten Island who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom.
'WE'RE ALL BROTHERS'

The service was simple, moving and emotional.

Prior to the ceremony, mourners stood in respectful silence outside church. Many wiped away tears. Some carried small
American flags, others had pinned photos of Ollis on their lapels. The only sound evident was the wind rustling through
the leaves.

"I didn't know Michael, but we're all brothers," said James Castoro, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who was outside
Hanley Funeral home with his brother, Nicholas, both from Annadale. "It's good to see the whole community reaching out
to the Ollis family."
Rolling Thunder, a veteran's group, and the Low Riders had at least 70 motorcycles parked along New Dorp Lane.

"We're here today to put Michael to his final rest with honor and dignity," said Michael Garguilo, president of the group,
adding that Ollis' father, Robert, is a friend of the club and had invited them to participate. At least one club member was
a classmate of Michael's.

At about 10:30 a.m., a bagpiper from the Police Department's Emerald Society skirled "Amazing Grace" as a six-man
military honor guard carried Ollis' flag-draped casket from Hanley Funeral Home across the street to the church.

'TRUEST KIND OF LOVE'

In his homily, Father Koeth said Michael's life, in which he grew from a fun-loving scamp to a respected son, brother,
friend and military leader, exemplify the true Christian spirit.

"Christ was willing to die so that we might live ... [it is] a love so pure we see it replicated in the life of Michael," he said.
"Michael was able to turn strength and courage and determination into what Christ called the truest kind of love, the love