Brooklyn Borough President

MARKOWITZ HONORS IRAQ WAR VETERAN WOUNDED BY GUNFIRE IN BROOKLYN

Borough President salutes Sgt. Louis Olander for his bravery at home and abroad.

12:30 PM
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13
BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL ROTUNDA
209 JORALEMON STREET
BETWEEN COURT AND ADAMS STREETS
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

On Tuesday, December 13, Borough President Marty Markowitz will honor Fighting 69th Infantry Battalion Sergeant Louis Olander, who recently returned from a year of duty in Iraq and moved to Brooklyn. On Tuesday, November 22, while Sgt. Olander, 22, was taking a break from painting his new apartment in Flatbush, he was struck by a stray bullet in the left shoulder. The battlefield medic knew he was hit, but nonetheless proceeded to tend to a fellow innocent bystander who had also been shot, 14-year-old Yosef Barber. Sgt. Olander also assisted another victim in the shooting until medical attention arrived at the scene.

Miraculously, the bullet that hit Sgt. Olander passed through his shoulder causing no damage. He plans to continue living in Brooklyn, and will resume his studies at CUNY-Hunter College in January, having left school in September 2001 for Army basic training. He plans to become a high-school history teacher.