France awards Legion of Honor to train-attack heroes

Three Americans who had a hand in taking down a would-be global terrorist in France last week, have been awarded the country’s highest acknowledgement; the Legion of Honor.

The French Legion of Honor medal was a creation of Napoleon Bonaparte, and is usually reserved for those who have served France and the ideals for which it stands. Asserting they “gave a lesson in courage” by doing so, according to SFGate.

Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler – childhood friends with ties to the Sacramento area – received France’s highest medal, making them Chevalier, knights of the Legion of Honour. You put your lives at risk in order to defend freedom.

“Since Friday, the entire world admires your courage, your sangfroid, your spirit of solidarity”, he said.

“Your heroism should be an example and a source of inspiration for everyone”, said Hollande. The ceremony was also attended by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and United States Ambassador to Paris Jane Hartley.

Doctors released Stone from the Hospital over the weekend.

Two other men who helped stop the alleged gunman will also be getting the distinction: hospitalized French-American Mark Moogalian and another man who wishes to remain anonymous. “His intentions were pretty clear”, said Skarlatos, a 22-year-old member of the National Guard in Oregon who was on holiday in Europe with his friends after he had recently returned from Afghanistan, adding the gunman “never said a word”.

Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler were on holiday when the Moroccan national began his attack as the train travelled from Amsterdam to Paris.

Stone said the attacker kept pulling out weapons from his bag, and that he was stabbed in the neck and sliced on his hand. “He said he found it in the park which is just next to the Midi Station in Brussels, where he often sleeps with other homeless people”.

After he was wounded, Stone is also credited with assisting a French-American passenger who was wounded by a bullet.

Norman, an IT consultant who helped subdue the gunman, said he thought: “OK, I’m probably going to die anyway so let’s go”, the Guardian reported.

“That’s for sure”, Skarlatos said in an interview shown on French television.

“I think Mr Norman’s incredible bravery in this situation is just an emphasis on the fact that it’s not just the authorities that are fighting terrorism now – it’s the general public”, he said.