Thousands of mourners gathered Friday for the funeral of an FDNY firefighter and U.S. Marine who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan earlier this month.
Christopher Slutman, a 43-year-old decorated member of Ladder 27 in the Bronx and a Marine staff sergeant, was one of three people who died when their convoy was caught in an April 8 bombing near the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul. The 15-year veteran FDNY firefighter had been three weeks away from returning home.
Hundreds of Slutman's fellow firefighters and Marines lined Fifth Avenue as a procession took his flag-covered casket from a Bronx funeral home to St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Manhattan, WCBS-TV reports. His wife, Shannon, and three daughters were presented the fallen firefighter's helmet
“Today our city mourns a hero: Firefighter Christopher Slutman. And he represents the best of us,” New York CIty Mayor Bill de Blasio said during the funeral. “On behalf of all 8.6 million New Yorkers, I offer my deepest condolences to this good family, to all the brave men and women of the FDNY and United State Marine Corps, to all who had the privilege of knowing Chris."
Slutman will be buried Tuesday at Arlington National Ceremony in Washington, D.C., according to WCBS.
