In the past 24 hours, you may have heard of the three American heroes and Kappa Sig who are responsible for saving the lives of hundreds of Frenchmen. The three childhood friends Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone, and Anthony Sadler were vacationing in France when they found themselves on a train from Paris to Amsterdam. It was there that a gunman emerged from the bathroom carrying an AK47 and attacked. Without hesitation, they jumped up, subdued the man, and saved the nearly 500 lives aboard the train.
The boys, as well as a British man who helped in subduing and tying up the gunman, a Ayoub el-Khazzani, a 25-year-old Moroccan national, are now receiving the Légion d’honneur, one of France’s highest honors, from French President François Hollande who noted that “faced with terror, we have the power to resist.” The heroes “gave us a lesson in courage, in will, and therefore in hope”.
“In France,” Hollande said, “you behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men. You put your life in danger to defend the idea of freedom.”
Khazzani is currently being held by France’s anti-terrorism unit..
[via The Guardian]