Solemn week as Long Island-based airmen are mourned

Signs of grief are visible in communities on Long Island as residents prepare to commemorate the loss of four members of the New York Air National Guard’s Rescue Wing, killed March 15 in a helicopter crash in Iraq.

Colored ribbons adorn lamp posts along Main Street in Westhampton Beach, the community where the 106th is based at Francis S. Gabreski Airport. Ribbons also flutter along byways further west in Center Moriches, the home of one of the airmen, Capt. Andreas B. O’Keeffe, 37.

Black and purple bunting swath firehouses in Commack, where Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso had served as a lieutenant in the volunteer fire department, which he joined in 2000. He also was a lieutenant in the FDNY.

“Please, let’s everyone keep them in their prayers,” Commack fire commissioner Patrick Fazio said Monday. “It’s a tough day, not only for Commack, but for America.”

A wake is planned for Port Jefferson Station’s Dashan Briggs Wednesday at the Westhampton Beach Volunteer Fire Department, said Fire Chief Billy Dalton. Briggs’ funeral will be held at the firehouse at 10 a.m. Thursday, with burial to follow at Calverton National Cemetery.

A wake for Raguso is scheduled for Thursday and Friday at the Commack firehouse on Jericho Turnpike. His funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Church Street in Kings Park, Fazio said.

Purple and black also hung from the exterior of Engine 28, Ladder 11 in downtown Manhattan, where Fire Marshal Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis served as a firefighter before taking leave three years ago to pursue a legal career.

A celebration to honor Zanetis, a former resident of Hampton Bays, is planned for 6-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Rise Bar at 859 Ninth Ave. in Manhattan, according to a New York Fire Department social media page. On Thursday, Engine 28, Ladder 11 will lead a procession from its East Second Avenue firehouse to Washington Square Park, followed by a reception at New York University for family and friends.

An aircraft bearing the bodies of Briggs, Raguso and Zanetis is scheduled to arrive at Gabreski at about noon Tuesday, according to base spokesman Capt. Michael O’Hagan. A closed ceremony will be attended by base commanders and their military colleagues, as well as representatives of fire departments where two of the airmen worked.

A funeral for O’Keeffe will be held in Tampa, Florida, April 6 at Incarnation Roman Catholic Church, said his father, Shan O’Keeffe.