President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Valor to 15 public safety officers Monday at the White House, including two officers who died in the line of duty. The Medal of Valor is the highest award a president can bestow on a public safety officer. In an East Room ceremony, Biden called the honorees "the heart and soul and very spine of this country," saying they were "the ones who ran in to help when everyone else ran away." Biden also paid tribute to Aaron Salter, the security officer who lost his life when a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, Saturday, killing ten people. Salter "gave his life trying to save others," Biden said. The Medals of Valor were awarded to nine police officers and six firefighters for acts of bravery in eight different incidents from 2019 to 2021.