Flags will fly at half staff around the state Wednesday in honor of Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis of Staten Island, the heroic young soldier who died in Afghanistan last week after his unit was attacked, Gov. Cuomo said yesterday.
The tragic soldier’s body was flown yesterday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where grieving relatives waited.
“Along with all New Yorkers, I extend my sympathy to the friends, family and fellow soldiers of Staff Sargent Ollis,” Cuomo said.
“We mourn the loss of this young soldier — but we will remember and honor his service to our nation.”
Ollis, a 2006 graduate of Petrides HS, died Wednesday after he was wounded in an attack on his unit in Ghazni Province.
He had just learned days befoire that he would be awarded the Bronze Star.
He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the legendary 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, which is headquartered upstate at Fort Drum.
Mayor Bloomberg said Ollis had “volunteered to serve our country after graduating high school and was already a decorated member of the US Army at only 24 years old.
“Tragically, he gave his last full measure of devotion in protecting his country, and our freedoms, in Afghanistan earlier this week,” the mayor said.
He added, “As New Yorkers, we owe a special debt of gratitude to those who serve in our military, because New York City is in many ways America’s greatest symbol of freedom.”
Ollis is the 92nd New Yorker who has died serving the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Bloomberg said.
He was from a family with a proud military tradition.
His father and grandfather are veterans.
“As long as the ideals they fought and died to protect are threatened, we will continue to rely on the bravery and sacrifice of young men and women like Staff Sergeant Ollis to preserve and protect them,” Bloomberg said.
“Our prayers are with his grieving family and friends.”
After serving in Germany and Fort Campbell, Ky., Ollis arrived at Fort Drum in November 2011.