French President Hollande Presents Three Americans and a British Grandfather who Tackled Paris Train Terrorist with France's Highest Honour for Bravery for Preventing 'Carnage'
- Four men awarded the Legion d'Honneur by President Francois Hollande
- Mr Hollande said their intervention on train prevented'veritable carnage'
- First passenger who wrestled gunman was U.S professor Mark Moogalian
- Ripped AK-47 from Ayoub El-Khazzani who shot him in neck with handgun
- His sister said: 'He thought he was losing so much blood he would die'
Daily Mail UK, 24 August 2015
Three Americans and a British grandfather who prevented 'carnage' by tackling the French train terrorist have been awarded France's highest honour for bravery.
U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, their friend Anthony Sadler and Briton Chris Norman were presented with the Legion d'Honneur at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
French President Francois Hollande, who pinned on their medals, praised the men for taking action in the face of terrorism.
The ceremony was held as the first heroic passenger who wrestled a machine gun from the terrorist was today revealed to be an American professor.
Heroes: Four train passengers (l-r) British businessman Chris Norman, US student Anthony Sadler, US Airman Spencer Stone and US National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos pose with French President Francoise Hollade after been awarded France's highest honour for bravery for tackling a gunman on a high-speed train
Honoured for their bravery: French President Francois Hollande, U.S. National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley, U.S. Airman Spencer Stone and U.S. student Anthony Sadler pose for photographs after the ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris
Mark Moogalian, an academic at the University of Paris, was shot in the neck as he fought with Ayoub El-Khazzani on board the high-speed service from Amsterdam to Paris.
The other four men then stepped in to overpower the attacker and tie him up.
Speaking at the medal ceremony, Mr Hollande told Mr Stone and Mr Skarlatos that while they may have been soldiers on that day 'you were simply passengers. You behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men.'
The pair and their longtime friend Anthony Sadler, subdued the gunman as he moved through the train with an assault rifle strapped to his bare chest.
Mr Norman, an IT expert, jumped in to help tie him up.
The men showed 'that faced with terror, we have the power to resist. You also gave a lesson in courage, in will, and thus in hope,' Mr Hollande said.
Mr Norman, speaking in French after receiving the medal, said it was less a question of heroism than survival.
'I hope this doesn't happen to you, but I ask you to really think: OK, what will I do if this happens?
'Am I going to simply stand still or am I going to try to be active if the situation presents itself?' he said.
The Americans, casual in vacation-style polo shirts and khakis against the backdrop of the highly formal presidential palace, appeared slightly overwhelmed as they received France's highest honour.
His arm in a sling and his eye bruised, Stone, 23, has said he was coming out of a deep sleep when the gunman appeared.
Skarlatos, a 22-year-old National Guardsman recently back from Afghanistan 'just hit me on the shoulder and said 'Let's go.'
With those words, Hollande said, a 'veritable carnage' was avoided.
He added: 'Since Friday, the entire world admires your courage, your sangfroid, your spirit of solidarity.
'This is what allowed you to with bare hands – your bare hands – subdue an armed man. This must be an example for all, and a source of inspiration,' Hollande said.
The gunman, identified as 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani, is detained and being questioned by French counterterrorism police outside Paris.
El-Khezzani's lawyer, Sophie David, told Le Monde newspaper the gunman is ill-educated, emaciated, and told her he had spent the past six months traveling between Belgium, Germany and Austria, as well as France and Andorra.
French President Francois Hollande awards British businessman Chris Norman with the Legion d'Honneur
French President Francois Hollande awards U.S. Airman First Class Spencer Stone with the Legion d'Honneur
U.S. National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos (centre) is awarded the Legion d'Honneur by Francois Hollande
French President Francois Hollande awards U.S. student Anthony Sadler with the Legion d'Honneur medal as British businessman Chris Norman looks on during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris
She said he told her he only intended to rob the train with a cache of guns he came across in a public garden near the train station and is 'dumbfounded' that it is being treated as an act of terrorism.
Mr Moogalian, 51, originally from Virginia in the U.S., came to aid of a French banker known only as 'Damien A' who was initially confronted by El-Khazzani during the attack on Friday.
Acting instinctively to protect his wife Isabella Risacher, he ripped the Kalashnikov assault rifle from El-Khazzani who then drew a handgun and shot him in the back of the neck.
American professor Mark Moogalian (above) was today revealed to be the first hero passenger who tackled gunman Ayoub El-Khazzani on board a high-speed service from Amsterdam to Paris
Mr Moogalian, a musician in a band called Secret Season, feared he was going to die after suffering massive blood loss.
His sister, Julia, said 'He made sure his wife was hidden behind a seat.
'He did manage to get the weapon away from the gunman. But the gunman then pulled another gun and shot my brother.
'There's a video of him saying 'help me' – he thought he was losing so much blood he would die.'
Mr Moogalian, a keen cyclist, is being treated in hospital and may have lost some use his left arm after suffering nerve damage.
She said French President Francois Hollande had asked him to dinner when he had recovered.
'We are extremely proud of him', she added. 'We are excited that he has been so brave.
'But he is an ocean away from us so it's difficult to be apart at a time like this.'
Mr Norman, Mr Stone, Mr Skarlatos and Mr Sadler, will reportedly be made chevaliers, or knights.
At a press conference at the US Embassy in Paris on Sunday Mr Stone said he just wanted to 'survive and for my friends and everyone else on the train to make it'.
He praised French medical staff and said that the unknown French man on the 554-passenger train 'started the struggle at first, I think he deserves a lot of credit'.
Mr Stone said: 'I turned around and he (the gunman) appeared to have what looked like a AK-47.
'It looked like it was jammed or wasn't working and he was trying to discharge the weapon. Alek hit me on the shoulder and said 'let's go'.'
Mr Moogalian is stretchered away from the scene in Arras, France, after being shot in the neck, causing massive blood loss and nerve damage. His sister Julia said he feared he would die
He added: 'We ran down, tackled him and hit the ground. Alek tackled him and grabbed the gun out of his hand while I put him in a chokehold.
'It seemed like he kept on pulling more weapons – left and right.
'He pulled out a handgun. Alek took that. He took out a box cutter and was jabbing at me with that. We let go and all three of us started punching him while he was in the middle of us.
'I was able to grab him again and choke him unconscious while Alek was hitting him in the head with the pistol or rifle.'
Mr Norman said he helped the three Americans overpower the gunman because he thought he was 'probably going to die anyway'.
Mr Skarlatos also thanked Mr Norman for helping to tie the gunman up after he had been overpowered.
Three Americans and British businessmen Chris Norman then stepped in to overpower the attacker (above)
Suspect: Ayoub El-Khazzani (above), 26, has denied accusations that he was trying to carry out a terrorist attack on Friday. He is being questioned by French counter-terrorism police after he allegedly opened fire on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to France
Terror on the train: How the heroic passengers tackled the gunman, potentially saving dozens of lives
French police were reportedly warned more than a year ago about El-Khazzani's radical views.
Spanish law enforcement told their French counterparts in March 2014 that El-Khazzani had a 'relationship with radical Islam', the Spanish El Pais newspaper reported.
It also claimed the 26-year-old Moroccan, believed to have visited Syria last year, had been included on a European anti-extremism police database as far back as 2012.
Officials told the Associated Press news agency that El-Khazzani was on the radar of authorities in France, Belgium and Spain.
The Legion d'Honneur was created under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, and roughly one million people have received it over the years.
El-Khazzani is being questioned in custody by French counter-terrorism police outside Paris.