Captain John David Friis lost his battle with cancer on October 7^th, 2015. John was born in Bethesda, MD and was a retired Navy Aviation Electrician (AE1) and was a retired Captain with the Navy Regional Mid Atlantic Fire Department. He was a former resident of Virginia Beach, where he had been a Virginia Beach volunteer firefighter and was an honorary Captain with Franklin Fire and Rescue.

John was a Captain at Naval Station Norfolk. He was assigned to E13 when he retired in August 2015. He has been assigned to Squad 1, Ladder 1, Tower 11, Engine 1, Engine 4, and Engine 5 during his career. He was also a member of the Maritime Incident Response Team (MIRT).

In 2021, IAFF will add John Friis to the IAFF Memorial in Colorado Spring, CO.