{"id":257313,"date":"2021-05-24T02:16:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T23:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nyc-agrees-to-host-5k-for-afghanistan-war-hero\/"},"modified":"2021-05-24T02:16:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T23:16:52","slug":"nyc-agrees-to-host-5k-for-afghanistan-war-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nyc-agrees-to-host-5k-for-afghanistan-war-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"#NYC agrees to host 5K for Afghanistan war hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#NYC agrees to host 5K for Afghanistan war hero<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

City Hall has agreed to greenlight a 5K run to honor an Afghanistan war hero \u2014 after organizers say their plans were stalled by the city amid COVID-19 restrictions. <\/p>\n

The Staten Island race honoring Army Sgt. Michael Ollis is now ready to go forward after The Post reported on the event being unable to secure a permit \u2013 <\/strong>with an executive order from the mayor expected this week that will address some crowd restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City has been in close contact with the family and we\u2019ve made it clear that we\u2019re committed to finding a solution here,\u201d de Blasio spokesman Mitch Schwartz told The Post on Sunday, saying the office was general<\/a>ly supportive of the race from early discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking forward to a safe and exciting event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sgt. Ollis, a 24-year-old Staten Islander, was killed in Afghanistan in 2013 as he shielded a wounded Polish solider from an insurgent suicide bomber\u2019s blast.<\/p>\n

\"Army
Army Sgt. Michael Ollis, a Staten Island resident who was killed while serving in Afghanistan.<\/figcaption>
Steve White<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The race for Ollis, launched in 2017, was one of several honors for the Gotham resident, in addition to the city naming a Staten Island Ferry boat after him.<\/p>\n

But organizers had said they were unable to secure a permit for this year\u2019s run, with cops pointing the finger at City Hall. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good,\u201d Bob Ollis, the late sergeant\u2019s dad, told The Post, saying the mayor\u2019s office gave an unofficial commitment to the event after some SI pols stepped in to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they told us \u2018no,\u2019 that was fine, we totally understand,\u201d Ollis said. \u201cIt was this being limbo that was frustrating. I totally understood them with this virus \u2026 We sure as hell didn\u2019t want people to get sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers are focusing on the original planned date of June 13 with details such as the course, and if runners will be staggered, still to be ironed out. Statewide executive orders restricting capacity may still be in effect.<\/p>\n

\"Bob
Bob and Linda Ollis at the memorial to their son Michael in Staten Island.<\/figcaption>
J.C.Rice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe sacrifice of SSG Michael Ollis should be long remembered in this community, and I was happ<\/a>y to play my part to bring this event back this year working with Assemblyman Michael Tannousis and on behalf of (Matteo), said David Carr, spokesman for Republican City Councilman Matteo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe details will be worked out in the days ahead, and I thank the Mayor\u2019s office for agreeing to work with the Ollis family to make this a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tannousis said in a statement said the event commemorated a hometown hero who gave his life serving the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy to have partnered with my colleague in government, David Carr, in speaking with the Mayor\u2019s Office and receiving their commitment that the event will go forward this year,\u201d Tannousis\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\"West
West Point cadets at the first 5K run for Sgt. Michael Ollis in Staten Island in 2017.<\/figcaption>
J.C.Rice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The race has become a fixture in the suburban New Dorp neighborhood where Ollis grew up and his parents, Bob and Linda, still reside.<\/p>\n

In past years, up to 1,000 people have taken to local streets, jogging and strolling past the permanent display of 24 American flags \u2014 one for each year of the young infantryman\u2019s life \u2014 that serves as a poignant reminder of his sacrifice at Forward Operating Base Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Soldiers from Fort Drum, home of the 10th Mountain Division, travel<\/a> to Staten Island each year to take part, and runners participate virtually from as far away as Germany and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Ollis posthumously received the US Army\u2019s Distinguished Service Cross and Poland\u2019s Army Gold Medal for saving the lives of his entire platoon and of Lt. Karol Cierpica, a Polish soldier he had never met before the base came under attack.<\/p>\n

\"A
A plaque at Michael Ollis\u2019 memorial.<\/figcaption>
J.C. Rice for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When a truck bomb pierced the compound\u2019s perimeter and enemy fighters burst through, Ollis ordered his men to safety in a nearby bunker. But when Cierpica was wounded in both legs and left unable to walk, Ollis \u2014 wearing no body armor \u2014\u00a0positioned himself to protect<\/a>\u00a0the Polish soldier as an approaching insurgent detonated an explosive vest, according to the Army\u2019s official account of the engagement.<\/p>\n

Entry fees for the 2019 run netted about $29,000 for the Ollis Foundation, according to its tax filings \u2014 half of its total intake that year.<\/p>\n

The group spends the cash to host holiday dinners for elderly vets, train service dogs for injured service members, send care packages to US troops overseas, teach civics in borough schools, and assist military families in need.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#NYC agrees to host 5K for Afghanistan war hero” City Hall has agreed to greenlight a 5K run to honor an Afghanistan war hero \u2014 after organizers say their plans were stalled by the city amid COVID-19 restrictions. The Staten Island race honoring Army Sgt. Michael Ollis is now ready to go forward after The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/ollis-01.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[106908,5042,70344,71556,70580],"class_list":["post-257313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-23-21","tag-bill-de-blasio","tag-coronavirus-in-ny","tag-staten-island","tag-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}