New York ( CNN ) -- Sgt . Dakota Meyer , the 23-year-old Marine who received the Medal of Honor earlier this month , wants to join another well-known outfit celebrated for bravery in the face of danger , the New York City Fire Department . Unfortunately , he missed the deadline to sign up , so he has to wait four more years . And when a federal judge agreed Monday to reopen the application window for one day to allow Meyer , and only Meyer , to apply , he said no , no special treatment . On September 15 Meyer met President Barack Obama and received the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House . Caught up in the bevy of activities surrounding the Medal of Honor ceremony , Meyer missed the deadline to apply to the FDNY , according to his attorney Keith Sullivan . `` The Fire Department would love to have him . Who would n't , whatever the organization ? '' said Frank Dwyer , a spokesman for the FDNY . `` He 's truly an example of what the military is all about , the best of what America has to offer . '' According to Dwyer , the city generally offers the opportunity for members of the public to apply to become a New York City firefighter only every four years . Step one in the process is to sign up to take an entrance exam . This year , the window for potential candidates to sign up was July 15 through September 19 , Dwyer said . Monday , Sullivan and the city filed a motion to allow them to reopen the official application period to allow Meyer to apply . The city sought to reopen the applications to all would-be candidates , but U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that other applicants had plenty of time to sign up for the firefighter test , and the one-day window for a late application would only be open to Meyer , `` in view of Sergeant Meyer 's recognized and truly exceptional military service , '' court documents said . `` We suggested in our court filing that the application period should be reopened for both Sgt . Meyer and the general public . However , we will respect the judge 's decision , '' said Kate O'Brien Ahlers , spokeswoman for the New York City Law Department . Sullivan was disappointed in the court 's decision and the city 's decision to accept it . `` The city made it perfectly clear that additional applications would be too burdensome for them to process . I am actually ashamed for them . If Dakota took the path of least resistance in Afghanistan the way the city did on this issue , he would not be a Medal of Honor recipient and there would be 36 more dead soldiers , '' he said . Garaufis cited special recruitment efforts by the city intended to encourage members of black and Hispanic communities to apply to the FDNY . `` A brief , general re-opening of the application period , especially without any accompanying recruitment effort beyond the City 's proposed updates of the New York City Fire Department 's and City Administrative Services 's websites , would create a serious risk of an adverse impact on the minority groups who are substantially under-represented in the ranks of the FDNY , '' Garaufis wrote in his decision . Meyer said he takes responsibility for missing the application deadline , and if no one else can apply during the reopened window , he wo n't apply either . `` Unless the filing period is open to everyone , I can not morally accept it , '' said Meyer in a news release . `` I got to where I am in life by sticking to my core values and principles , I 'm not about to change . I am very disappointed that I missed the deadline by only 12 hours , but I accept full responsibility for that . '' The Kentucky Marine earned the nation 's highest award for valor when he braved a storm of enemy fire to recover wounded and dead fellow American and Afghan troops during a six-hour firefight in Afghanistan . His actions saved the lives of 13 U.S. Marines and soldiers and 23 Afghan soldiers , according to the Marines ' Medal of Honor account . Meyer is the first living U.S. Marine in 41 years to be awarded the medal .
Sgt . Dakota Meyer missed deadline to apply to fire department . A federal judge offered to reopen the window but only for him . Meyer says he wants no special treatment .