page_title: 2015 Thalys train attack
section_title: Involved passengers
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Thalys train attack / Involved passengers
caption_attribution_description: English: French President François Hollande poses with the four men who thwarted a terrorist attack on a French train during a Legion of Honor ceremony at the Élysée in Paris Aug. 24, 2015. Stone was on vacation with his childhood friends, Aleksander Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, when an armed gunman entered their train carrying an assault rifle, a handgun and a box cutter. The three friends, with the help of a British passenger, subdued the gunman after his rifle jammed. Stone’s medical training prepared him to begin treating wounded passengers while waiting for the authorities to arrive. Stone is an ambulance service technician with the 65th Medical Operations Squadron stationed at Lajes Field, Azores. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Ryan Crane)
context_page_description: On 21 August 2015, a man opened fire on a Thalys train on its way from Amsterdam to Paris. Four people were injured, including the assailant. French, American, and British passengers confronted the attacker and subdued him when his rifle jammed. For their heroism, they received France's highest decoration, the Legion of Honour. The assailant, later identified as Ayoub El Khazzani, initially claimed to be only a robber, but later confessed that he had wanted to "kill Americans" as revenge for bombings in Syria.
context_section_description: The following passengers were noted by the press for their involvement in the incident:
  Damien A., a 28-year-old French banker, the first passenger to tackle the gunman; he wished to remain anonymous.
  Mark Moogalian, a 51-year-old American-born Frenchman with dual nationality who teaches English at the Sorbonne. The second passenger to intervene, he momentarily wrestled the rifle away from the gunman. He sustained a non-fatal gunshot injury to the neck that required emergency surgery at Lille.
  Chris Norman, a 62-year-old British businessman living in France. He helped subdue the gunman.
  Anthony Sadler, a 23-year-old American student in his senior year at California State University, Sacramento, and a high school classmate of Stone and Skarlatos; he helped Stone and Skarlatos tackle the gunman.
  Alek Skarlatos, a 22-year-old American Oregon Army National Guard specialist, on leave after deployment in Afghanistan, former neighbor and classmate of Stone; he struck El Khazzani with the jammed assault rifle.
  Spencer Stone, a 23-year-old American airman first class in the Air Force who was on leave from the 65th Air Base Group; he sustained several cuts, a fractured finger, and an injury to his right eye, which were treated in a hospital near Lille and later at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
  An off-duty French train driver who also helped subdue the gunman; his name has not been released.
  Norman, Sadler, Skarlatos, and Stone were made Knights of the Legion of Honour (Chevaliers de la Légion d'honneur) on 24 August by French President François Hollande. Moogalian was also made a Knight of the Legion of Honour on 13 September 2015, with Damien A. expected to be similarly honored at a later date. Norman, Sadler, and Skarlatos were also awarded the medal of the city of Arras.
  In the United States, Sadler was also awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Valor. Skarlatos was awarded the Soldier's Medal, the highest medal awarded to Army personnel for actions outside of combat, while Stone was awarded the Airman's Medal and the Purple Heart. He was also meritoriously promoted two grades on 1 November to Staff Sergeant. Stone and Sadler also received the Civic Medal 1st class from the Prime Minister of Belgium.
  Sadler, Skarlatos, and Stone were naturalized as French citizens in an honorary ceremony at the Alliance Française in Sacramento, California on January 31, 2019.
caption: Chris Norman, Anthony Sadler, President Hollande, Spencer Stone, and Alek Skarlatos after their Legion of Honour ceremony at the Élysée Palace on 24 August 2015
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