President Biden Announces Recipients of the Medal of Valor

Today, President Biden will announce eight recipients of the Medal of Valor.

Pursuant to the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Act of 2001, which President Biden co-sponsored when serving as a Senator, the President may award, and present in the name of Congress, a Medal of Valor to a public safety officer for extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of duty. It is the nation’s highest award for valor by a public safety officer.

The nominees were recommended by the Attorney General and the Medal of Valor Review Board, whose members are appointed to four-year terms by the President, the Senate majority and minority leaders, the Speaker of the House, and the House minority leader. The medal recipients have exhibited exceptional courage—disregarding their own personal safety—in attempting to save or protect human life. 

The President previously awarded Medals of Valor in 2023 for the 2021-2022 class of nine recipients and in 2022 for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 classes of 15 recipients during ceremonies held at the White House. The President also presented the medals as Vice President in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

The awards will be presented at the White House on January 3, 2024. The following individuals will be awarded the Medal of Valor:

Sergeant Jeffrey Mathes, Officer Rex Engelbert, and Detectives Michael Collazo, Ryan Cagle, and Zachary Plese

On March 27, 2023, Sergeant Jeffrey Mathes, Officer Rex Engelbert, and Detectives Michael Collazo, Ryan Cagle, and Zachary Plese of the Nashville, Tennessee, Police Department ran towards gunfire to take down an active shooter at The Covenant School, a Nashville elementary school. The heavily-armed shooter had already killed six people, including three nine-year-old students. The officers rushed to the scene, and as they arrived, the shooter opened fire on them. Still, the officers entered the school, cleared classroom after classroom, and ran towards the sounds of gunfire where they encountered the shooter. They took down the shooter. Later that day, the President addressed the nation and commended the police for their swift response and bravery.

Sergeant Tu Tran

On February 22, 2023, Sergeant Tu Tran of the Police Department of Lincoln, Nebraska put his life in danger to courageously save a woman drowning in a frigid pond. Sergeant Tran jumped into the deep water and swam over 30 feet to the middle of the pond where the woman’s vehicle was submerging. He opened the rear door and pulled the woman out before the vehicle fully submerged. Sergeant Tran brought the woman to safety on shore, where she was treated by medics and survived. Sergeant Tran attended the 2024 State of the Union address as a guest of Nebraska Senators Pete Ricketts (R) and Deb Fischer (R).

Lieutenant John Vanderstar

On October 23, 2022, Lieutenant John Vanderstar of the Fire Department of the City of New York rushed into a burning apartment and through flames to rescue a mother and her child, saving both. Upon entering the apartment, without hesitation and without water to hold back the fire, he pushed to the back bedroom, where he found a suffocating mother with a child laying on top of her. He dragged them to the window for fresh air. Once other firefighters arrived with a hose to push back the fire, Lieutenant Vanderstar raced out of the apartment with the child, handing her to paramedics. The mother and child both survived.

Firefighter Brendan Gaffney

On February 5, 2023, firefighter Brendan Gaffney of the Fire Department of the City of New York rushed through an apartment building fire twice to save two unconscious victims. In the apartment, Gaffney moved through the raging fire into a bedroom using a removed door as a shield, where he found a pregnant woman and a child, 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 the woman while waiting for paramedics. The woman and child both survived.

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