• Unveiling the Michael Ollis Dining Hall: A Symbol of Community and Honor at the US Army Garrison in Poland

    December 21, 2023 Author: Dave
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    On October 27th 2023, the new garrison’s dining hall at Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan, Poland was named in Michael’s honor. It was a very beautiful, emotional ceremony. Thank you to all US Military and Polish Ministry of Defense who made this possible. The Ollis family were special guests as well as Ret. Lt. Karol Cierpica.

    The Michael Ollis Dining Hall stands as a testament to the commitment and camaraderie within the US Army stationed in Poland. This dining facility serves not just as a place for meals but as a hub for fostering unity, honoring service, and building connections among military personnel and their allies.

    Stars and Stripes Article details more of the ceremony here: https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2023-10-31/poznan-army-10th-mountain-ollis-11890476.html

  • Polish School renames military programs after American Hero: Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis

    March 20, 2022 Author: Dave
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    03.18.2022

    Story by Pfc. Javen Owens 

    Republished from: 113th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment  

    BYDGOSZCZ, Poland –The Garrison Church of the Military Parish of Our Lady of Peace held a Naming Ceremony and Solemn Holy Mass for the Uniformed Classes and the blessing of the Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis Junior Training Corps Colors, March 18, 2022. This event showcased the kinship between U.S. and Polish Soldiers, honoring the heroism of the late Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis.

    Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis from Staten Island, New York was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light) out of Fort Drum, New York. While deployed in 2013 to Ghazni, Afghanistan, insurgents attacked his compound with vehicle-borne explosive devices, suicide vests, indirect fire and small arms.

    After accounting for his troops, Staff Sgt. Ollis checked for any casualties in a building hit during the attack and then moved toward the enemy fighters who entered the base. He managed to locate a fellow coalition Soldier, Polish Army officer, Lt. (ret.) Karol Cierpica and together they moved toward the enemy without their armor, armed only with their rifles. The two stood together to combat the insurgents who breached their defenses, all while under continuous enemy fire.

    During the fighting, an insurgent with a suicide bomb vest rounded a corner and charged them. Staff Sgt. Ollis, without body armor, put himself between the insurgent and Cierpica, who was wounded in both legs and unable to walk. Staff Sgt. Ollis fired on the insurgent and incapacitated him, but as he approached him, the insurgent’s suicide vest detonated, mortally wounding Staff Sgt. Ollis.

    “He died for a great cause: freedom,” Col. Geoffrey A. Norman, the 1st Infantry Division’s Deputy Commanding Officer for Support said. “He followed in the footsteps of millions of Soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their country and spread freedom and democracy throughout the world. Because of his sacrifice, there are fewer terrorists to threaten our countries. He died a hero, and will live on forever in the hearts of our Allies.”

    The Senior Academic High School at the College of Health Sciences received the permission of Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis’ parents, Bob and Linda Ollis, to name the school’s Uniformed Classes in his honor.

    “It is my firm belief that in naming our Uniformed Classes the ‘Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis Junior Training Corps’ will honor and commemorate his heroic deed among current and future generations.” said Tomasz Krajewski, the Director of Uniformed Classes.

    Mr. Bob Ollis, Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis’s father, expressed how grateful he was for Poland and the Polish community and how they have welcomed him and his family since his sons passing. Lastly, Cierpica spoke about Ollis’ heroism.

    “He showed me the true meaning of service, Michael did,” Cierpica said. “My true hero, is an angel in heaven.”

    Ollis and Cierpica family with the Uniformed Class at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Bydgoszcz, Poland

  • President of Poland Andrej Duda Cites SSG Michael Ollis in Letter to President Trump Commemorating Independence Day

    July 6, 2017 Author: Dave
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    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Contact: Nick Iacono, SSG Michael Ollis Freedom Foundation
    P: (718) 887-6522 | E-Mail: Iacono.Nicholas@gmail.com

    President of Poland Andrej Duda Cites SSG Michael Ollis in Letter to President Trump Commemorating America’s Independence Day

    STATEN ISLAND, NY – (Thursday, June 6, 2017) Today, the SSG Michael Ollis Freedom Foundation issued the following statement of gratitude in response to President Andrej Duda of Poland’s mention of SSG Michael Ollis in his July 4 official correspondence to President Donald J. Trump:

    “We are proud and honored to have Michael’s name and heroic sacrifice invoked by President Duda of Poland as a testament to the strong bonds of fellowship between the United States and Poland,” said Robert and Linda Ollis, co-founders of the SSG Michael Ollis Freedom Foundation and the parents of fallen Army SSG Michael Ollis. “Michael selflessly gave his life to shield his fellow soldier, Carol Cierpica of Poland, because that’s who he was, and we are so grateful to the Polish government and people for continuing to honor Michael’s memory and help us tell his amazing story.”

    SSG Michael Ollis heroically sacrificed his life to shield Polish Lt. Karol Cierpica from a suicide attack when their forward operating base (FOB) in Afghanistan was ambushed in a suicide attack in 2013. Since then, Karol, the Polish government, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union, and countless members of the Polish-American community (especially here on Staten Island) have worked hard to commemorate the memory and heroic sacrifice of SSG Ollis. In fact, the Polish Government posthumously awarded SSG Ollis the Army Gold Medal, Poland’s highest honor for a foreign soldier, and when the Lt. Cierpica’s baby boy was born in 2015, they named him Michael in honor of SSG Ollis.

    In addition, this past June, the SSG Michael Ollis Freedom Foundation held its First Annual SSG Michael Ollis Memorial 5K Run/Walk in New Dorp on Staten Island, which was attended by Maciej Golubiewski, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York, Colonel Jacek Stochel from Poland’s Embassy in Washington, DC.

    See below for the full text of President Duda’s letter with his comments regarding SSG Ollis highlighted. President Duda’s letter was sent on the occasion of American Independence Day and President Donald Trump’s historic state visit to Poland this week.

    Letter by the President Andrzej Duda to the President of the USA on the occasion of the Independence Day

    Tuesday, 4 July 2017

    “On the occasion of the National Day of the United State of America: the Independence Day, I wish to offer into your hands, Sir, our congratulations and best wishes from the Polish Nation and me personally.

    The Republic of Poland and the United States of America are bound by traditional bonds of friendship, by the strategic partnership founded on our shared values, and by respect of our mutual interests. The Polish Americans, the Polonia, are also an important reference in our relations. I am greatly pleased that in the course of your presidential campaign, Sir, you have found the time to meet this community which is very close to my heart.

    The additional, undoubted, strengthening element in our close relationship is the fraternity of arms among our soldiers, forged in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hotspots of the modern world. Especially, the action of a 24-year-old Staff Sergeant Michael H. Ollis, who during the Taliban attack on the base in Ghazni in August 2013, Afghanistan, gave his life shielding with his own body a Polish Lieutenant Karol, Cierpica, was firmly imprinted in the collective memory of the Polish people. For saving the life of a Polish officer, he was posthumously decorated by the Polish authorities with the Star of Afghanistan, and the Gold Medal of the Polish Army.

    I have a particular appreciation for the American contribution to the security guarantees to the European Allies located along NATO’s Eastern flank, which is exemplified by the deployment of the American troops in the region, including Poland. It is with satisfaction that I have been following the implementation of decision made at last year’s NATO Summit in Warsaw, as well as their reaffirmation at the recent meeting of Heads of States and Governments from NATO states in Brussels.

    To me, as President of the Republic of Poland and to my Compatriots, but also to the states of Central Europe, affiliated with the Three Seas Initiative, your decision, Sir, to accept our invitation to visit Poland and to take part in in the Summit meeting of the Initiative on July 6, is of paramount importance. I count on fruitful bilateral and multilateral talks which will further testify to our commitment in building transatlantic bonds. I am deeply convinced that the meeting of leaders of states from this part of Europe, focused on tightening economic investment, business and infrastructural cooperation, will go down as a success, also thanks to your attendance thereof, Sir.

    Mr. President, please, accept once again, my very best wishes for all success in carrying out of your noble and responsible mission of holding the office of the President of the United States. Let me also extend my good wishes of prosperity and success to Your, Sir, Your Family, Colleagues, and to All the People of the United States.”

    President of the Republic of Poland
    Andrzej Duda