STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Staten Island native and retired Army Sgt. Maj. Eric Geressy and the late Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis never met in the military. In fact, 1988, the year Ollis was born, Geressy was serving his first year in the Army.<\/p>\n
Yet they shared many similarities: a home borough, enlisting at the age of 17, and a familial legacy of military service. <\/p>\n
Geressy, who currently serves as the senior advisor to the U.S. secretary of war for strategy, didn\u2019t notice these similarities when he was first reviewing Ollis\u2019 case for the Medal of Honor. He only saw something he knew needed to be recognized and platformed \u2014 valor. <\/p>\n
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Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Eric Geressy is shown at the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone in Panmunjeom, Republic of Korea, on Nov. 3, 2025. Geressy made promoting Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis’ award a full-time duty, navigating complex military review processes to secure the recognition.Courtesy of DoW and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Madelyn Keech<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did what he did completely voluntarily on his own,\u2019’\u2019 Geressy said of Olis. \u201dWhen these guys are doing stuff like this, it\u2019s not for medals, it\u2019s not for accolades, it\u2019s not for any kind of personal recognition. They\u2019re doing things because they need to be done. He saved lives, and he did that on his own, because that was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story of Ollis being awarded the Medal of Honor, however, starts years before his file reached Geressy\u2019s desk. <\/p>\n
A New Dorp resident, Ollis was killed on Aug. 28, 2013, during a Taliban attack on Forward Operating Base Ghazni<\/a> while serving with Bushmaster Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division. During the assault, Ollis placed himself between a suicide bomber and a Polish allied officer, shielding the officer from the full force of the explosion and sacrificing his own life.<\/p>\n Witnesses have said Ollis\u2019 actions not only saved the life of Polish Army 2nd Lt. Karol Cierpica but also helped preserve the lives of more than 40 military and civilian personnel on the base.<\/p>\n In the years since his death, Ollis\u2019 family, veterans\u2019 organizations, elected officials and members of the Staten Island community have pushed to have the local hero recognized.<\/p>\n He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Audie Murphy Medallion, Polish Armed Forces Gold Medal as well as the Silver Star, which was upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross in 2019.<\/p>\n In July of 2022, Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat representing New York in Congress, wrote a letter to Chief of Staff of the Army General Randy A. George, urging the Army to recommend Ollis for the Medal of Honor distinction<\/a>. In January 2026, Congress member Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, delivered a letter to President Donald Trump expressing her support for posthumously<\/a> awarding Ollis the honor.<\/p>\n According to Geressy, the process of upgrading the award to the Medal of Honor was brought to his attention by author Tom Sileo, who reached out to encourage the Pentagon to reexamine the case of the Staten Island native. <\/p>\n Although Geressy was already familiar with Ollis through friends who served in the 10th Mountain Division, He was drawn in by the young man\u2019s integrity, his commitment to his fellow service members, and his rare embodiment of a true warrior.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hear a lot about restoring the warrior ethos,\u201d Geressy stated in an interview with the Advance\/SILive.com. \u201cWhat Staff Sgt. Ollis did is that. If people don\u2019t understand what it means by warrior ethos, they just need to read his citation.\u201d <\/p>\n Geressy took on the full-time task of promoting Ollis\u2019 worthiness for the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n The process of submitting nominations for high-level awards involves multiple layers of military review, which requires many investigations, interviews and reexaminations. <\/p>\n The review starts at the unit level before moving through various military offices, including the Army chief of staff, secretary of the Army and the chairman\u2019s office. Pete Hegseth, the current secretary of war, was able to issue a favorable determination, but the final decision always rests with the president of the United States.<\/p>\n On Feb. 3, 2026, President Donald Trump approved the honor, making Ollis the third Staten Islander to receive the Medal of Honor,<\/a> joining the Rev. Lt. Vincent R. Capodanno and World War II soldier Joseph F. Merrell Jr.<\/p>\n The complexity of the process, dozens of people involved and the limited experience among younger military personnel in awarding Medal of Honor-level awards presented challenges. <\/p>\n \u201cThis was our first big war since Vietnam,\u2019’ he said. \u201dSo there wasn\u2019t a lot of experience awarding people that had seen this much combat.”<\/p>\n