WASHINGTON -- Two Long Islanders were honored Wednesday with the nation's highest medal for public safety officers -- ATF agent John Capano, who died pursuing a Seaford drugstore robber in 2011, and former Bellmore Fire Chief John Curley for a daring rescue in 2012.
Those honors were among the 11 Public Safety Officer Medals of Valor presented in a ceremony by Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder. The medal recognizes law enforcement officers and firefighters for extraordinary actions that save lives.
"You always run to the sound of danger. Even though you know anything can be on the other end . . . you put somebody else's life above yours," Biden said. "You're a rare breed. You're all crazy. We love you for it. We need you."
Capano's wife, Dorea; son, John, 21; and daughter, Natalie, 18, were greeted with a standing ovation in the auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as they accepted a framed certificate and a medal attached to a ribbon.
Capano, a senior agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, had gone to Charlie's Family Pharmacy on Merrick Road on Dec. 31, 2011, to pick up medication for his 82-year-old father when he encountered a holdup.
Although he was off duty, Capano, 51, chased and grappled with the convicted robber, James McGoey of Hampton Bays, outside the store. A retired Nassau County police lieutenant at the scene mistakenly shot and killed Capano, of Massapequa. An off-duty NYPD officer shot and killed McGoey.
Biden called the posthumous honors "the saddest part of the day." He told the children their father will "be part of you guys your whole life" and Capano's widow that "I admire your courage being here." Capano's son joined the NYPD last year.
Curley, 45, a member of the FDNY and a longtime volunteer of the Bellmore Fire Department, smiled broadly as he accepted his medal. He was honored for his off-duty rescue of a 92-year-old woman from a second-floor bedroom of her burning home on Nov. 12, 2012.
Curley and his son, the first on the scene, propped an old ladder on top of a file cabinet. Curley climbed to the bedroom window, smashed it with his hand and entered the room through billowing smoke despite having no protective gear.
He found the woman on the floor, carried her to the window and passed her down the ladder to his son. Curley suffered burns to his hands and a facial cut.
Asked in an interview Tuesday why he did it, Curley said, "I don't know. I think it was just the years of being in the fire department. I've been known to do not-safe moves before, just crazy stuff."
But he's proud of his feat. "There is not a day goes by I don't remember that happening," he said. "It was a life-changing experience."
The account of his deed made an impression as Holder and Biden presented the honor.
"Holder said, 'You're crazy,' and Biden said, 'You're plum crazy,' " Curley said afterward.
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