Posted on October 5, 2021
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis died a hero of the Afghan War in 2013 shielding a fellow soldier from an explosion. On Monday, his family led a continued tribute to this hometown hero in St. George with the commissioning of a Staten Island Ferry named in his honor.
Bob Ollis, Michael’s father, said he hoped the thousands of people who will ride the boat take a moment to remember his son, and the sacrifice he made.
“I can give you the whole story, but you’ve heard it, you’ve read it, and I hope you read it 1,000 more times,” Ollis said. “I want to keep Michael’s name rolling forever and ever and ever, because I think he deserved it.”
Michael’s father and his mother, Linda, participated in the official ceremony breaking a bottle of champagne on the ship’s side and unveiling the iconic Staten Island Ferry nameplate that sits under the ship’s bridge.
“It’s for Michael. This whole thing is for Michael,” Ollis said during his remarks to the crowd.
While serving with the 10th Mountain Division in Aug. 2013, Ollis died at the age of 24 saving a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber who raided Forward Operating Base Ghazni.
“Your son gave his life — something that is most precious to all of us — so his fellow soldier can still be alive with his family in Poland,” said Adrian Kubicki, Consul General of Poland in New York to Ollis’ parents.
Current members of Ollis’ division also came to the St. George Ferry Terminal to honor the fallen soldier and to witness the commissioning.
In addition to the ferry named for Ollis, the newest three-ship class of the blue and orange boats are dedicated to his honor. The other Ollis-class ferries are named for social activist Dorothy Day, and the South Shore’s Sandy Ground settlement — one of the nation’s oldest communities of free African- Americans.
The ferries have been in development since 2014, with Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City, Fl. handling their construction since 2016. Ollis’ ferry is the first to arrive after a series of delays impacted the boats’ completion. Problems affecting the deadline included Hurricane Michael in 2018 and the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The latest tribute to Ollis joins a series of other honorifics around the Island that memorialize his sacrifice.
His family maintains a permanent monument at the intersection of South Railroad and Burbank avenues near Ollis’ childhood home in New Dorp, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Oakwood, along with the athletic field at the Michael J. Petrides School — Ollis’ alma mater — are named in his honor.
Bob Ollis recalled one of the first times he met Borough President Oddo. Not knowing who he was at the time, Ollis said the borough president, who now has only a few months left in elected office, approached him and his wife at a little league game to tell them about the push to have the ferry named in their son’s honor.
Oddo’s work with the city, and a petition drive led by Staten Islander Anita Salek helped pave the way for the ferries to bear his name for years to come. Oddo said Monday that he’s still working to understand how Ollis made the sacrifice he did, but that meeting his parents has given him some insight.
“If you have spent even a minute with [Ollis’ parents]…you know the character and the decency that they have, that was poured into their son,” Oddo said. “If you ride (the ferry) and you have to do it everyday, if you ride it just once that week, once that week, tap into a scintilla of the selflessness of Michael Ollis.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio, city Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Hank Gutman, Staten Island DOT Borough Commissioner Roseann Caruana, Borough President James Oddo, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, State Sen. Diane Savino, Assemblyman Mike Cusick, Assemblyman Mike Reilly, Assemblyman Mike Tannousis, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Kubicki were the officials who joined the family and other supporters to honor Ollis during the commissioning ceremony.
