An FDNY lieutenant-turned-soldier killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq, was remembered Saturday as a “gentle giant” during a somber funeral service at the same Long Island church where he married his wife.

Thousands of people — firefighters, friends, members of the military and strangers who simply wanted to honor a hero — filled the St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in suburban Kings Park, pouring out into the streets to honor Air National Guard flight engineer Christopher J. Raguso.

As the FDNY’s Emerald Society bagpipers played “Amazing Grace,” Raguso’s casket — draped in an American flag with his name stitched on either side — was lowered from atop a fire engine.

Hundreds of uniformed firefighters stood in reverence as they lined Church Street, watching six of their own carry their brother to a church altar, covered in white lilies and pink and purple hyacinths.

Raguso’s widow, Camilla, placed her hand softly on her husband’s casket, and then joined the couple’s two daughters, ages 5 and 6, seated in a front pew of the church, where the girls were baptized.

“The whole country is crushed by the loss of Chris,” Lieutenant Christopher Gorzynski said during the service, attended by Mayor de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray, along with FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro . “When he was deployed, he said he had to go because if he didn’t, someone else would have to, and it could be one of his friends.”

The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Raguso, 39, was “known for his bear hugs,” Gorzynski continued. “Our gentle giant was the best we could ask for.”

Raguso — a master sergeant who saw violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, and helped rescue hundreds of people in Hurricane Harvey and Maria — dedicated his life to the “service of others,” his father, John Raguso told mourners.

“He has done exactly what they and the country have asked him to; that’s because Chris didn’t know how not to give 100 percent of himself,” said his father, who called his son “Wild Goose.”

“He recognized that to be good at his job, he needed to go where the action was, he wanted to be there, whether that was home wrestling with his giggling daughters, or forcing entry into the heart of a six-story tenement on fire.”

Nigro hailed Raguso’s selfless courage.

“A hero is a person who’s admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, for their noble qualities. In my estimation there’s no one word that more aptly describes the extraordinary man we gather to honor and remember today,” Nigro said. “Chris responded day and night to countless calls for help, showing strong courage, showing conviction every time.”

Raguso was among seven service members killed in western Iraq when their Pave Hawk helicopter hit a power line and crashed March 15, a day after his 39th birthday.

Two other Long Islanders were killed in the crash — Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs, 30, of Port Jefferson Station, and Capt. Andreas O’Keeffe, 37, of Center Moriches.

Air Force Major and FDNY Marshal Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis, whose funeral was held Thursday, was also killed.

A 13-year veteran of the FDNY, Raguso spent 11 of those years at Engine 249/Ladder 113 in Flatbush Brooklyn, before being transferred to Queens. He was a volunteer firefighter in Commack, where he lived with his family.

With Post Wires