today's funeral

Christopher (Tripp) Zanetis, 37, was a member of the Fire Department of New York City and held the rank of Major in the New York Air National Guard. He was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq along with 6 other service men. Today he was honored in a “Celebration of Life” that began at his old East Village firehouse and continued in Washington Square Park.

He received a law degree from New York University and joined the FDNY after the September 11th attacks. He deployed in Afghanistan with the New York Air National Guard in 2012.

He was also one of the first firefighters in the city to come out as gay and was active in the fight for gay rights.