By Sgt. Jerod Hathaway
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, a 10th Mountain Soldier who gave his life shielding Polish Army Lieutenant Karol Cierpica from a suicide bomber while deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. James McConville, during a ceremony on Staten Island, New York June 8. The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military honor that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army."Every generation has its heroes," McConville said during his remarks. "Michael Ollis is one of ours."Staff Sgt. Ollis's father and sister, Robert Ollis and Kimberly Loschiavo, received the award from McConville at a Veterans of Foreign War post named in Ollis's honor.
