Christopher Slutman, who was a staff sergeant in the Marines, was also a decorated 15-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department and a captain at a volunteer fire department in Landover, Maryland, where he worked in his free time.
Slutman, who was 43, had been a Marine Corps reservist before he began extended training last year before his deployment to Afghanistan.
He is survived by his wife and three daughters.
“Together, all firefighters grieve the loss of our brother, Christopher, who dedicated his life to protecting the people of this city, and our nation,” said Gerard Fitzgerald, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York.
Slutman most recently worked as a firefighter at Engine 46 Ladder 27 in the Claremont section of the Bronx. He received the department’s Fire Chiefs Association Memorial Medal for heroism in fighting a fire in July 2013.
Oleg Pelekhaty, a chief of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department in Maryland, said in a statement that Slutman had joined his department in February 2000 and had risen to the rank of captain.
Slutman had grown up in the area, and his father, Fletcher, had also been a firefighter in Prince George's County, Maryland, a Washington Post article from 1993 recounted.
“Through this trying time, we will remember Chris for the father, husband, brother, son, and friend that he was, the moral character he displayed daily, and the courage and conviction to serve his fellow Americans, both at home and abroad,” Pelekhaty wrote on Facebook.
Matthew Lund, 39, said he had met Slutman when they both volunteered as firefighters in Kentland 19 years ago. He called Slutman, who was a few years older than him, his mentor.
“He was a real stand-up guy, a very positive influence on everyone and really funny. He had a big heart and was an excellent fireman,” Lund said in a phone interview.
Slutman and the two other Marines were killed Monday when their convoy struck a roadside bomb near Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, U.S. military forces in Afghanistan announced. An Afghan contractor was wounded, along with several other civilians.
A U.S. miliary official told The New York Times that the Taliban was believed to be behind the attack. The fallen service members had not yet been publicly identified, in accordance with Department of Defense policy.
Fighting between the Taliban and U.S.-backed Afghan forces has continued in recent weeks despite continuing negotiations on a framework to end the nearly 18-year war. About 14,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Afghanistan, largely supporting the Afghan military. Seven U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year.
In March 2018, two men who served in the New York City Fire Department, Lt. Christopher Raguso and Fire Marshall Christopher Zanetis, were among seven U.S. service members killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq, where they had been serving as part of the New York Air National Guard. Two weeks ago, a plaque dedicated to Raguso was unveiled at his former firehouse, Ladder Company 155 in Queens.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.