“How do you put it into words? It’s overwhelming.”

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And so it was for Police Officer Thomas Ollis, who retired last Friday to a long blue line of hugs and well-wishes and the stirring sounds of pipes and drums during a “ceremonial walkout” from the First Precinct station house in Tribeca. All of his nearly 18 years on the force had been spent there.

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Ollis, 66, received the special honor as the NYPD’s last Vietnam veteran and its third-oldest patrolman before becoming the station house facilities manager two years ago.

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It was not an easy goodbye.

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