There’s a reason they are called the Bravest.
President Biden awarded the coveted Medal of Valor on Friday to a pair of heroic FDNY firefighters who ignored intense flames and selflessly raced into danger to save desperate New Yorkers who were trapped in burning buildings.
Lt. John Vanderstar was recognized for his heroics on Oct. 23, 2022, when he raced through raging flames in a Bronx apartment to rescue a mother and daughter who were trapped in a fire in a back bedroom.
Firefighter Brendan Gaffney also was honored for rushing into a burning Inwood building on Feb. 5, 2023 — twice — first to save an unconscious child, and again, to rescue a pregnant woman.
“They allowed people to continue their lives in ways that they never would have been able to,” Biden said at a White House ceremony honoring the firefighters and six other first responders.
“There’s a lot fewer empty chairs around the kitchen table and dining room table because of what these guys did. And what they did is — is amazing. They literally put their lives at risk — some of them at the point that you wonder how they could have had the nerve to do it.”
Also among the honorees were law enforcement officials who responded to a shooter who killed six people on March 27, 2023, at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, where, facing gunfire, they cleared out classrooms before taking down the shooter.
“So, thank you, guys,” Biden said. “I really mean it. You’re the best America has to offer. I’m so damn proud to stand with you.”
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said the medals — the nation’s highest award for valor by a public safety officer — were an honor for the entire department.
“Every day, FDNY members do amazing work serving the people of New York,” Tucker said. “We are incredibly proud of Lieutenant Vanderstar and Firefighter Gaffney for receiving the Medal of Valor for their extraordinary actions.”
Both firefighters had each previously received department medals for their bravery.
Vanderstar rushed into action after a neighbor banged on the door of his Bronx firehouse and told them about a blaze in a building up the street.
Without water to hold back the fire, Vanderstar pushed to the back bedroom, where he found a young girl lying on top of her suffocating mother. He dragged them to the window for fresh air until other firefighters arrived with a hose. Then he raced out of the apartment with the girl, handing her to paramedics. The mother and child both survived.
In the Manhattan fire, Gaffney used a removed door as a shield to move through a raging fire to find a pregnant woman and a child, who were both unconscious.
He first shielded the child with his own body to get him to safety. Gaffney then ran through the fire again and rescued the woman. He performed CPR on her while waiting for paramedics. The woman and child both survived.
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