Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Central European News
The parents of a killed US staff sergeant who saved the life of a Polish soldier in Afghanistan has met with the survivor and his family during an event to honour the serviceman’s heroic sacrifice.
The parents of US Army staff sergeant Michael H. Ollis, Linda and Robert Ollis, visited Poland to commemorate the country’s Independence Day on 11th November before receiving an Honorary Ambassador of Poland award on the 14th.
The award, which was presented to the parents during a ceremony in the south-western Polish town of Lubin, was to commemorate their son’s brave sacrifice.
On 28th August 2013 at the Ghazni US military base in Afghanistan, Michael H. Ollis shielded Polish Second Lieutenant Karol Cierpica with his own body during a suicide attack by Afghan rebels and died on the spot.
Linda and Robert Ollis met the survivor and his family on 16th November. It was the couple’s third visit to Poland since their son’s untimely death.
Linda Ollis told local media: “We are thankful for how Poles commemorate our son. I think he is present in people’s memory more in Poland than in the US.”
Robert Ollis said that many people are not aware that Michael and Karol did not know each other before the fateful moment when a suicide bomber struck.
He added: “It’s wonderful that they joined together to help each other.”
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
