The father of fallen FDNY firefighter and US Marine Christopher Slutman on Tuesday recalled the heartbreaking moment he learned his son was killed overseas.
Two military sergeants knocked on Fletcher Slutman’s door in York, Pa. the night before to deliver the tragic news.
“I said, ‘This isn’t good. We don’t get visits like this unless there’s something the matter,’” Fletcher, 67, told The Post as his voice cracked over the phone. “And neither of them was smiling.
“My wife came in and said, ‘You better not be telling us something happened to one of my boys.’ And the sergeant said, ‘I’m sorry.’”
The 43-year-old staff sergeant — a 15-year FDNY veteran — was killed by a roadside bomb on Monday near US military base Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. The blast left two other Americans and a contractor dead and three service members wounded, officials said.
Christopher’s remains are now en route to the US, said Fletcher.
“We just found out just a little bit ago that his body was put on the plane, so he’s on the way coming back,” the dad said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I guess next week is going to be very tough.”
He added, “I already talked to my parents. I talk to them a lot. And they’re both dead. And I told them he’s coming up to take care of them.”
Christopher, who worked at Ladder 27 in the Bronx, was on active duty when he was killed. He is survived by his wife Shannon and their three young daughters, whom he frequently spoke to while serving overseas.
Fletcher, a retired firefighter who served with the Prince George’s County Fire Department in Maryland, said his son was born to serve.
“Everybody has that special disposition about themselves over how nervous they get in a situation, and he never was nervous,” he said. “Other firefighters and military personnel recognized that in him. He was fearless.”
Julie Moore Graden, who lived a few doors down the Slutmans in Delaware, said Christopher and Shannon were “soulmates.”
“He was always smiling, never complained about being away from his children, missing things,” she recalled. “He always had a positive attitude, you could just see how much he loved Shannon and his girls.”
Additional reporting by Frank Chung