{"id":123557,"date":"2026-02-05T07:22:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/123557\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T07:22:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:22:06","slug":"trump-calls-parents-of-fallen-staten-island-army-hero-michael-ollis-to-reveal-their-son-will-receive-medal-of-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/123557\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump calls parents of fallen Staten Island Army hero Michael Ollis to reveal their son will receive Medal of Honor"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Trump had an emotional phone call with the parents of Staten Island native and Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis to inform them that their son would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroically sacrificing his life in Afghanistan over a decade ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Robert and Linda Ollis were in the kitchen of their Staten Island home on Monday when the commander in chief greeted the couple on the phone and asked how they were holding up, according to a video posted on\u00a0the SSG Michael Ollis Freedom Foundation Facebook\u00a0page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very nervous,\u201d Robert said on speakerphone.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should be, because your son is going to get the highest honor that you can have,\u201d Trump shared. \u201cThere is no higher honor than the Congressional Medal of Honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The soldier\u2019s father\u2019s eyes lit up at the announcement, his expression shifting into a proud smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s looking down at you right now, he\u2019s saying, \u2018Well, my mom and dad are handling this pretty well,’\u201d Trump said of their son.<\/p>\n

Ollis was just 24 years old, serving as an Army infantryman, when he was killed in Afghanistan on Aug. 28, 2013<\/a>, during a Taliban attack on Forward Operating Base Ghazni.<\/p>\n

In the chaos of the attack, Ollis threw himself between a suicide bomber and a Polish officer, absorbing the deadly blast and laying down his life in an act of pure selflessness.<\/p>\n

Witnesses said his actions likely protected more than 40 service members<\/a> and civilians on the base.<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis was killed in Afghanistan in 2013 after shielding a Polish Army officer from a suicide bomber with his own body. I Have Your Back \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Ollis\u2019 actions likely protected more than 40 service members and civilians on the base during the attack. White<\/p>\n

Ollis was only 24 years old when he was killed. HANDOUT<\/p>\n

Ollis was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army\u2019s second-highest combat award, before efforts began to elevate the recognition to the Medal of Honor, according to Military Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After years of advocacy by his family<\/a>, veteran groups, elected officials \u2014 most notably Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY \u2014 and the Staten Island community, Trump approved the nation\u2019s highest military honor for Ollis.<\/p>\n

The Medal of Honor is reserved only for service members who go above and beyond the call of duty by showing remarkable valor and selflessness in the heat of battle, at the risk of their own lives.<\/p>\n

The Medal is awarded after cases are rigorously reviewed, a process that requires detailed battlefield reports, at least two sworn eyewitness accounts, and additional corroborating evidence.<\/p>\n

Ollis parents follow behind his casket at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Staten Island, NY, on Sept. 14, 2013. White<\/p>\n

The Staten Island native was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army\u2019s second-highest combat award, before efforts began to elevate the recognition to the Medal of Honor. White<\/p>\n

The couple expressed deep gratitude to the president for approving the Medal of Honor, which has been awarded posthumously 618 times, according to the Army.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you so much, Mr. President. You have no idea the happiness we have,\u201d Robert shared. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for facilitating this! This is so wonderful,\u201d Linda said, adding that the family had advocated for their son to receive the honor for years and reached out to countless people before he finally approved it.<\/p>\n

Trump also applauded the parents for their tireless work to keep their son\u2019s story alive for more than a decade. <\/p>\n

President Trump called Ollis\u2019 parents at their Staten Island home on Monday to inform them of the news. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise, how are we going to know, right? You know, people don\u2019t know. So I think that\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Trump then told the pair that they would head to the White House for the ceremony, where a \u201cfew\u201d recipients would also receive the honor, noting that they were \u201call brave people.\u201d The president did not clarify whom he was referring to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read what your son did, and it\u2019s \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t do it, Linda,\u201d Trump told Ollis\u2019 mother about her son\u2019s bravery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not brave enough either,\u201d Linda said with a soft laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither am I. Even though I\u2019m a Vietnam Vet, I still wouldn\u2019t have done it,\u201d Robert added.<\/p>\n

Trump encouraged them to gather the family and \u201cgo celebrate,\u201d reminding them their son would be proud before ending the call.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Trump had an emotional phone call with the parents of Staten Island native and Army Staff Sgt.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[29880,5336,53919,153,53580,661,9,24,63,134,136,135,58,21181],"class_list":["post-123557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-afghanistan","tag-army","tag-combat","tag-donald-trump","tag-medal-of-honor","tag-military","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-us-news","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}