STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis died in 2013 when he heroically shielded a Polish soldier during a violent explosion in Afghanistan, and his legacy will live on through a memorial created at the Staten Island school he attended.
On Wednesday, the Michael J. Petrides School in Sunnyside held a ceremony to unveil “Mike Ollis Way,” which includes a dedicated corner in the lobby of the school’s main building that features photos of Ollis and medals he received as a soldier, donated by his family.
It was held to honor the life of Ollis, who graduated from Petrides in 2006. While serving with the 10th Mountain Division in August 2013, Ollis died at the age of 24 saving Polish soldier Lieutenant Karol Cierpica from a suicide bomber who raided Forward Operating Base Ghazni. Cierpica and his family remain close with Ollis’ family — and Cierpica even named his son Michael.
The Michael J. Petrides School in Sunnyside on Thursday unveiled a memorial in honor of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, who died in 2013 while saving the life of Polish solder Karol Cierpica, who is shown here at the memorial. (Staten Island Advance/Annalise Knudson)Annalise Knudson
Cierpica attended the event with his wife Basia, and their son Michael, explaining that Staten Island is a special place to their family because it has become a “second home.”
“I also want to say why part of my heart beats on the Staten Island, and why Staten Island is my home now, because your brother, Mike, also became my brother,” said Cierpica, in tears. “When Michael was running, this is important for me all the time, when he was running after me, to save another person’s life — my life, the life of a man he didn’t know — he was smiling and joyful … His eyes said, ‘I have your back, Karol, and I will never leave you. Don’t be afraid.’ Yes, it’s true. Believe me, it’s true, because you can say so much with your eyes.”
The Ollis and Cierpica families, along with community members and elected officials, gathered at the Petrides school on Wednesday to take a seat among an abundance of chairs that filled the lobby and the hallway leading to the memorial space.
Cierpica and Robert Ollis, Michael's father, share a hug at the unveiling of the memorial. (Staten Island Advance/Annalise Knudson)Annalise Knudson
Petrides Principal Anthony Tabbitas said he didn’t know Ollis personally, but he knows the “lasting impact” he has had on the school community.
“Michael’s impact runs deep at the Petrides school — so deep that there is a forever saying in our school community, three simple words that have deep meaning, ‘Be Like Mike,’” said Tabbitas. “… Those selfless, instinctive decisions are the ones that leave a lasting impact on society — those are the decisions that have the Petrides school always remember the legacy of Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis. We hope we all could simply, ‘Be Like Mike.’”
Students presented flowers and certificates to the families of Cierpica and Ollis, along with original folk art flags that combined the American and Polish flags, created by the school’s Habitat for Humanity Club and teacher Michael Blyth, who taught Ollis when he was a student at Petrides.
The memorial was then unveiled — first with a street-inspired sign on the wall that read “Mike Ollis Way,” and them the dedicated corner of photos and medals.
Three wreaths were placed on the memorial — the U.S. Army Wreath, the SSG Michael Ollis Wreath and the Polish Friendship Wreath. Upon setting down the Ollis Wreath, Cierpica kissed the photo of Ollis in the center and wiped away tears. Ollis’ parents, Robert and Linda, gave each other a hug to commemorate the moment.
Ollis' mother, Linda, carries one of three wreaths placed on the memorial. (Staten Island Advance/Annalise Knudson)Annalise Knudson
“I humbly bow my head and lift my heart with the aspiration that I can be like Mike, and all I could do right, hopefully I could live up to what he’s done, and there’s no greater sacrifice than that,” said Dr. Roderick Palton, Staten Island District 31 interim acting superintendent, and also a former U.S. Marine. “I have to do this work with my heart, like he led with his heart. That’s what caused him to save the Polish officer on that day, with humility.”
In 2019, the Army posthumously awarded Ollis the Distinguished Service Cross in a ceremony at the Oakwood Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post that bears his name. He has also been awarded the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Polish Armed Forces Gold Medal — the highest honor the nation bestows on foreign soldiers.
James Hendon, commissioner of the New York City Department of Veterans' Services, reminded the crowd to not forget who Ollis was, but also, who he could have been — had he not made his heroic sacrifice.
“When we lose someone, we lose a service member, we often talk about that service member and the identities they hold, as a son, as a brother, as a friend, as a comrade. I just want to make sure we take a minute to acknowledge the identities they didn’t hold with that sacrifice,” said Hendon. “… So you think about that identity he didn’t have — as a father, as a husband, as a grandfather, and all these things that he gave up for us.”
The school memorial is the latest tribute to Ollis, joining a series of other places around Staten Island that memorialize his sacrifice. In addition to the VFW Post, the athletic field at Petrides is also named in his honor.
In 2021, a class of three new Staten Island Ferry boats were unveiled in 2021, named the Ollis class, which includes one individual vessel named specifically for the hometown hero — the SSG. Michael H. Ollis.
Earlier this year, a book, “I Have Your Back: How an American Soldier Became an International Hero,” was published that chronicled the life of Ollis, written by author Tom Sileo.
His family maintains a permanent monument at the intersection of South Railroad and Burbank avenues near Ollis’ childhood home in New Dorp, and an annual 5K, the SSG Michael Ollis Run, is held in the spring.