By FireRescue1 Staff
NEW YORK — A memorial service was held for the two firefighters who were among those killed in a military helicopter crash in Iraq.
CBS News reported that FDNY Lt. Christoper Raguso and Fire Marshal Tripp Zanetis were remembered by their colleagues and friends as people who were determined to help others no matter what.
Firefighter Cliff Brown said Zanetis “could have done anything.”
“We would say, ‘You’re certainly too good for this job,’” Brown said. “But he had the mind, the tools to do anything he wanted and he chose to help people.”
In addition to being a fire marshal and a member of the New York National Air Guard, Zanetis was also a graduate of NYU and Stanford Law School.
“All of the jobs that he had, and all that he was studying for, they were all about giving back,” Lt. Peter Sapienza said. “Nothing about it was monetary. He lived very modestly but he could have worked anywhere he wanted to work. After 9/11 he wanted to be a New York City fireman because the city was hurting and he wanted to contribute, he wanted to help. Whatever he decided he wanted to do, within months he would be immersed in it. I mean, he would read books about Japan written in German.”
Lt. Raguso was remembered for serving in several countries during his time in the military, being decorated six times for valor by the FDNY and rescuing Hurricane Harvey victims.
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“You know one night a few years back, Chris was working we had a real bad [fire] and I remember after the fire was out we were all banged up and Chris had that feeling like it was just, ‘Wow, we all went in there. We were in deep and we all got out,’” firefighter Frank Valerio said.
Valerio added that Lt. Raguso would serve with “no question,” whether it was in New York or overseas.
“It took us five seconds to find six guys who wanted to say amazing things about them and I think there were 50 more lined up,” CBS anchor Jeff Glor said. “I can’t think of a better reflection of what kind of people they were, men they were.”
“One of our retired members, he’s a vet, he had some of the best advice I felt we heard yet and he’s telling us not to mourn them, because they were doing exactly what they should have been doing, and they wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Brown said.
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