The remains of 106th Rescue Wing airmen Maj. Christopher Zanetis, Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso and Tech. Sgt. Dashan Briggs arrive home March 27.
The remains of three New York Air National Guard members killed in a Pave Hawk helicopter crash in Iraq March 15 arrived home on Long Island Tuesday.
The airmen ― Maj. Christopher Zanetis, 37, an HH-60 pilot;, Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso, 39, HH-60 special missions aviation flight engineer; and Tech. Sgt. Dashan Briggs, 30, HH-60 special missions aviation specialist ― were assigned to the 106th Rescue Wing out of Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach.
WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY - A large American flag flies from a Westhampton Beach Fire Dept. ladder following a dignified transfer of the repatriated remains of three Airmen from 101st Rescue Squadron back to F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base March 27, 2018. The arrival and brief ceremony was held for Major Christopher T. Zanetis, a pilot, Master Sgt. Christopher J. Raguso and Tech. Sgt. Dashan J. Briggs, both special missions aviation specialists, who were all killed when their HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter crashed along the Iraq-Syria border near the city of Al-Qa'im. (Staff Sgt. Christopher Muncy/Air Force)
The remains of a fourth member of the 106th, Capt. Andreas O’Keeffe, 37, a Pave Hawk pilot, were taken to Florida for burial services.
Family and friends of the fallen, and hundreds of Guardsmen, attended the dignified transfer and reception, and residents lined the nearby streets.
WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY - U.S. Air Force Honor Guard members from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst perform a dignified transfer of the repatriated remains of three Airmen from 101st Rescue Squadron back to F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base March 27, 2018. The arrival and brief ceremony was held for Major Christopher T. Zanetis, a pilot, Master Sgt. Christopher J. Raguso and Tech. Sgt. Dashan J. Briggs, both special missions aviation specialists, who were all killed when their HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter crashed along the Iraq-Syria border near the city of Al-Qa'im. (Staff Sgt. Christopher Muncy/Air Force)
Capt. Mark Weber, one of the seven airmen killed earlier this month in a helicopter crash in western Iraq, was posthumously awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal during a memorial service last week.
The piecemeal progress of extremism-prevention efforts during the past four years is more than can be expected out of the Pentagon in 2025, experts said.
Holiday helpers have been busy, as plenty of organizations and individuals have been working to make the days a bit brighter for troops and their families.
The project was scheduled to take 10 years and cost $16 billion. Nearly eight years later, only six of VA’s 170-plus medical sites are using the software.
