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SEMPRE FIDELAS !!!!!
Well if they weren't Marines God bless 'em anyway, whoever they were!
What they did rates a "Semper Fi!" from this Marine!
And a, WELL DONE! from this ex-midshipman.
Not to mention an Attaboy, star class.
Chuck, MSgt(ret) USAF
http://heavy.com/news/2015/08/spencer-stone-us-military-belgium-train-terrorist-attack-paris-france-hero-marines-photos-video-injured-injuries-american-marine/
Excerpt from the Portland Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2015/08/oregon_national_guard_member_h.html
An Oregon Army National Guard member from Roseburg was one of three Americans who stopped a gunman who opened fire Friday aboard a high-speed train passing through Belgium.
The guard member, 22-year-old Alek Skarlatos, had wrapped up a tour in Afghanistan in July and was spending a month in Europe with friends, his stepmother Karen Skarlatos told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday night.
He was on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train with a group, including childhood friends Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University, and Spencer Stone, a member of the U.S. Air Force, Sadler told the Associated Press.
"We heard a gunshot, and we heard glass breaking behind us, and saw a train employee sprint past us down the aisle," Sadler said from France, describing the drama. Then, they saw a gunman entering the train car with an automatic rifle, he said.
"As he was cocking it to shoot it, Alek just yells, 'Spencer, go!' And Spencer runs down the aisle," Sadler said. "Spencer makes first contact, he tackles the guy, Alek wrestles the gun away from him, and the gunman pulls out a box cutter and slices Spencer a few times. And the three of us beat him until he was unconscious."
I'm tempted to say too bad they didn't beat him into oblivion, but no matter, those young heroes did enough, and more than enough.
All deserve a Bronze Star or the Soldiers Medal, at the least.
Well done guys!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Firelock76 I'm tempted to say too bad they didn't beat him into oblivion, but no matter, those young heroes did enough, and more than enough. All deserve a Bronze Star or the Soldiers Medal, at the least.
To what Firelock 76 and BaltACD said...I would echo a resounding "AMEN".
IT is somewhat gratifying to know that in this day, and time there are those who will respond to their fellows in danger by running to help; rather than from it.
Semper FI !
Anthony and Alek with Chris Norman, the Englishman who helped.
Firelock76{snipped - PDN] . . . All deserve a Bronze Star or the Soldiers Medal, at the least."
In the best tradition of "Let's roll !" on 9-11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_flag
- Paul North.
Firelock76 I'm tempted to say too bad they didn't beat him into oblivion . . .
. . . or that he didn't 'accidentally' fall out of the train.
Unfortunately, to the others of that ilk, that just makes heroic martyrs out of them.
And, by the time the French DSGE is done with him (cf. anti-DeGaulle revolutionaries from the Algerian screw-up), he'll wish that they had.
But better that he rot in a French prison for the rest of his life.
It's long past time that these [fill in your favorite derogatory word - I can't think of good one at the moment] learn - or at least be subject to - the principle that messing with anyone - especially Americans - will end badly for them.
Perhaps castrate him and feed the results to the hogs.
He (the jihadist) may not rot in a French prison for the rest of his life. There's always the possibility that after a few years, when the incident's a faded memory, that he'll...just...disappear.
Wouldn't surprise me. Despite what we may think about them in this country the French can be pretty tough when they want to be.
Excerpt from Wall Street Journal
The three American men whom French authorities credit with disrupting a potential terror attack on a Paris-bound high-speed train Friday are childhood friends who had all attended [Fair Oaks] California’s Freedom Christian School and often played military games together growing up.
Airman First Class Spencer Stone, Oregon National Guard member Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler were tourists trekking through Europe on a planned three-week vacation. They will return home as decorated heroes, following a scheduled visit with French President François Hollande at Élysée Palace…
Mr. Skarlatos’s father, Emanuel, said his son called him at his home in Roseburg, Ore., about two hours after the incident, “cool as a cucumber.”
“He said, ‘Dad, we took down a terrorist on a train,’ ” said Emanuel Skarlatos, 65. “I didn’t even know he was going from Amsterdam to Paris.”
The father said his son flew to Germany alone and joined his friends in Amsterdam, where they were beginning their vacation as a group. He said it was a fateful, spontaneous decision that put them on that train to France.
“They were having so much fun in Amsterdam. But they decided to go to Paris anyway. It was a fluke,” he said.
3 popular Americans in Paris and Jane Hartley, the Ambassador to France
Excerpt from France24
Les trois Américains… le Britannique Chris Norman…
Ils seront tous les quatre reçus lundi matin à l'Élysée par François Hollande qui leur décernera la Légion d'honneur.
I love the spin put out by his lawyer. Seems that a train robbery is so engrained in the public mind that it might make a good cover story? But of course train robberies have always been of trains that are carrying large amounts of valuable things...not a fixed HSR trainset.
Glad he was taken down so easily and with few injuries. Good job to those three!
Article courtesy of 86th Airlift Wing
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone arrived safely at Ramstein Air Base today via military airlift after receiving emergency medical care for injuries sustained while subduing an armed gunman aboard a French train, Aug. 21, 2015. Stone was subsequently transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for follow-on medical treatment. “We are grateful for Airman Stone’s quick thinking and courageous actions and are thrilled to have him back safely with us and receiving follow-on care,” said Brig. Gen. Jon T. Thomas, 86th Airlift Wing commander. “We’re thankful to our French partners for taking care of him and providing him the initial medical treatment he needed.” While at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the injuries suffered by Stone during the incident will be assessed by military healthcare providers and necessary treatment will be provided. Stone, along with fellow traveler and childhood friend Aleksander Skarlatos, made the flight from Paris after receiving the French Legion of Honour by French President Francois Hollande. Airman Stone is assigned to the 65th Medical Operations Squadron as an Ambulance Services Technician. The 65th MDOS belongs to the 65th Air Base Group, Lajes Field, which is a unit under the 86th Airlift Wing here at Ramstein Air Base. At this time, Stone is unavailable for interviews or media events.
So they got the Legion of Honor! Outstanding! Makes sense for them to recieve a decoration that originated with Napoleon when you remember Napoleon's definition of a hero:
"A man who sees his duty and does it, even though he's terrified."
I'll bet it'll look great on their dress uniforms!
And remember Ernest Hemingway's definition of courage: "acting with grace under pressure." These guys had it in spades.
I saw the presentation of medals by President Hollande on TV this morning.
It is worth pointing out that these men were not simply brave but were able to use their training in a way that minimised casualties.
The fact that three Americans had known eachother for a long time allowed them to act together as a team, and military training allowed them to take action when they realised that the offender's assault rifle had jammed.
Of course, Spencer Stone's specific medical training saved the life of another victim who was bleeding from the neck.
It was a combination of courage and training that resulted in the attack being a complete failure.
The would-be terrorist was left with nothing to claim.This outcome might even discourage such attempts to gain publicity with mindless violence.
M636C
What a world.
Alex Skarlatos is enrolled at Umpqua Community College, site of mass murder.
Excerpt from the Sacramento Bee, Oct. 8
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article38180571.html
A man who suffered critical stab wounds during an assault in midtown early Thursday is being identified as Spencer Stone, one of the heroes who stopped a terrorist attack aboard a train bound for Paris in August.
Officers were called at 12:46 a.m. Thursday to the 2100 block of K Street where they found a man with multiple stab wounds in his torso.
Officers initially thought the man would not survive the stabbing. However, once he arrived at the hospital, medical staff was able to stem the bleeding and he is expected to survive.
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