The saved veteran, Reserve Captain Karol Cierpica, and the Deputy Prime Minister W. Kosiniak Kamysz took part in the ceremony.

- It is an important ceremony, especially for me. It’s about a great honor. It is my duty. It is a part of an extraordinary mission that started 13 years ago. A soldier is not someone you can only be from time to time. A soldier is someone you are forever. It is a great gift. It is also a lifelong obligation. Today it is my obligation to keep the memory of a true and heroic act that I witnessed, what your son has done. Sometimes words are not enough. I am extremely happy and moved, thankful for your service, Michael. Michael, thank you for your service, we will meet again in Heaven. - said Polish soldier Karol Cierpica during the White House ceremony.

- We meet here today to honor the heroism that transcends national borders. This is a ceremony dedicated to the memory, gratitude and allied solidarity. Polish and American soldiers stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghanistan in the face of a brutal attack. In that moment, it was not just the military procedures that were tested. Sergeant Michael Harold Ollis took a decision that was an act of bravery and the highest sacrifice. The Medal of Honor is a fitting recognition of his heroic action. - said the Deputy Prime Minister W. Kosiniak-Kamysz during a meeting in the Polish embassy in Washington, D.C.

During the ceremony, the family of Sergeant Ollis has also received an order bestowed by the President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki, after an official request by the Minister of National Defence W. Kosiniak-Kamysz.

Today, Poland also posthumously awards Sergeant Ollis with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland – one of the highest awards given to foreigners for their service to our country. In accepting this award, his family accepts the gratitude of the entire Polish nation. Poland remembers that he gave his life saving a Polish soldier. Poland recognizes him as its hero. -  said the Minister of National Defence during the ceremony.

>>> GALLERY – Minister of Defence’s visit in the US

On 28 August 2013, during an attack on a Forward Operating Base in Ghazni, Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis protected his soldiers, and then re-entered combat alongside the NATO coalition forces. When a Polsih soldier, Cpt. Karol Cierpica, was wounded, Staff Sgt. Ollis shielded him with his own body. He gave his life to save the life of a Pole.