American Valor Saves the Day

They could have ducked.

They could have looked the other way.

They could have hidden under a seat, hesitated, closed their eyes, or just wished the whole horrible episode away.

Instead, like many other American heroes who have gone before them, three young American men took action. They stood up to a gunman linked to extremist terror organizations and almost certainly saved many lives among the hundreds of people traveling Friday on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris.

Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, 23, a martial arts enthusiast; Alek Skarlatos, 22, a specialist in the National Guard who had just returned from a deployment in Afghanistan; and their friend Anthony Sadler, 23, a senior at Sacramento State University (shown in the photo above with U.S. ambassador to France Jane D. Hartley), were traveling together on a European vacation. The three were seated in the same car on the train and were less than an hour from Paris when gunshots brutally rang out.

A heavily armed gunman, Moroccan-born Ayoub El Khazani, 26, had begun wildly shooting.

“Let’s go, go!” Skarlatos began shouting to Stone.

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Stone never hesitated. Muscular and powerfully built, he ran down the aisle, charged the gunman and tackled him to the ground. Skarlatos grabbed the gun away from the shooter “and threw it.” He also grabbed the AK-47 the gunman had on him “and started muzzle thumping him in the head with it.” They punched the gunman to try to disable him. Their reaction was “about survival,” said Skarlatos. “The guy had a lot of ammo.”

Terrorism and evil — take that. At a time when our culture too often rewards false heroes — take that. 

The whole thing happened in minutes, but it could have gone very differently. That the terrorist’s AK-47 apparently malfunctioned does not take away from the men’s courage.

Some of the bravery was not without cost. The gunman pulled out a boxcutter and sliced Stone, badly injuring his thumb and stabbing him in the neck and eye area.

A fourth passenger, British businessman Chris Norman, 62, helped the three young Americans subdue the shooter.

Norman’s first instinct was to “sit down and hide,” the New York Post reported. The actions of the Americans apparently changed his mind. “My thought was, ‘OK, I’m probably going to die anyway, so let’s go,” Norman said.

Some of the bravery was not without cost. The gunman pulled out a boxcutter and sliced Stone, badly injuring his thumb and stabbing him in the neck and eye area. But Stone kept holding him down as blood oozed from his body while also working to save the life of another passenger who had been injured. The terrorist, thrashing wildly as five men now worked to subdue him, kept yelling for his guns.

Today, Stone is OK. He is more than OK.

The terrorist, thrashing wildly as five men worked to subdue him, kept yelling for his guns.

He left a French hospital Saturday with his left hand in a cast, tape across his right eyebrow and the title of hero forever attached to his name.

He and the other two Americans have received France’s highest order, the Legion of Honor, as a result of their swift action in the face of terror. But the young men downplayed their work, as so many great Americans often do.

“We just did what we had to do,” said Skarlatos. “You either run away or fight. We chose to fight and got lucky and didn’t die.”

But their mothers — the mothers can let loose a little. Stone’s mom cried on the phone as she discussed her son’s actions afterward. “It is absolutely in his character,” Joyce Eskel of California told the Telegraph of London. “It didn’t surprise me at all. It makes me nervous at times, but I am thankful that he is that way.”

The other men’s family members said similar things.

“You expect him to do this,” said Skarlatos’ brother, Solon Skarlatos. “He’s very proactive, and he gets stuff done.” Solon Skarlatos said that when he spoke with his brother Friday after the attack and then again on Saturday, “it was almost like he was just describing just a regular day to me,” he told NBC.

El Khazani’s name was reportedly on security watch-lists in Europe and he is said to have ties to radical Islam. In 2014, he traveled to Syria where he received military training, The Telegraph reported. He is being questioned now by authorities and his lawyer maintains the man is “dumbfounded” he’s being considered a terrorist when all he wanted to do was rob people on the train.

Right. As others have pointed out, you don’t need multiple magazine rounds and multiple weapons if your intention is robbery.

The three Americans now have been to Elysee Palace for a congratulatory meeting with French President Francois Holland. President Obama called them with words of congratulations. But all of this praise and whatever other kudos follow the young men (and there will be more) is almost certainly not uppermost in their minds.

They saved lives. They interceded during a vicious attack. They did what Americans do in times of trouble, chaos, craziness and disaster.

Think of Flight 93 on 9/11, when a passenger revolt led by Americans averted further disaster after the World Trade Center attacks. Think of the many other instances when Americans have foiled terror attacks on our soil. The list goes on and the details vary, but the essence is the same.

The men on that train took decisive action. They risked their own lives for the good of others.

They put other people before themselves, as so many of our servicemen and women do each and every without notice, reward or commendation. We owe these three and many others a great deal.

“I saw Spencer get up, I saw Alek get up, and those are my close friends, and I couldn’t let them go alone,” said Anthony Sadler during a press conference in Paris on Sunday morning. The young men’s other message: No one should hide during times like this. Step up and do something.

This article was updated to reflect the Legion of Honor awards.