Three Americans and a Briton who foiled a suspected terror attack on a train have received France's top honor from President Francois Hollande.
Hollande presented Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, and Briton Chris Norman with the Legion d'honneur at the Elysee Palace. Two other unnamed passengers will receive the honor at a later date.
The passengers overpowered a suspected radical Islamist on a high-speed train bound for Paris on Friday. French authorities are questioning the suspect, 25-year-old Moroccan Ayoub el-Khazzani.
Hollande pinned medals on the chests of the four passengers at a ceremony in Paris on Monday morning. "We are here to honor four men who, thanks to their bravery, managed to save lives," he said. "In the name of France, I would like to thank you. The whole world admires your bravery. It should be an example to all of us and inspire us. You put your lives at risk in order to defend freedom." Hollande told Stone and Skarlatos: "You behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men. A terrorist decided to commit an attack. He had enough weapons and ammunition to carry out real carnage, and that's what he would have done if you hadn't tackled him at a risk to your own lives.
"You gave us a lesson in courage, in will, and thus in hope." He added: "Faced with the evil called terrorism there is a good, that is humanity. You are the incarnation of that."
Analysis by the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris:
This was France's formal thank you to the men who set such an extraordinary example by their courage on the train. The government here is making a big deal of the four heroes (plus their anonymous French helper), and for good reason.
If the jihadist threat is to remain with us, and nothing suggests that it will stop, the behavior of individuals towards the imminence of violence could become a crucial factor. If more people are willing to risk their lives by standing up to fight, then that will shift the psychological battle in favor of our societies.
Governments know this, so do all they can to honor the people who make a stand.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and the American ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, attended the ceremony, along with the head of the French rail firm, SNCF.
A French-American passenger who was wounded in the attack, and a French citizen who first encountered the gunman and tried to overpower him, will receive the honor later.
Hollande named the French-American as fifty-year-old Mark Moogalian, who is still in the hospital. The other man wishes to remain anonymous. The president said he wished to pay tribute to both of them for their bravery.
Moogalian's wife told BFM TV her husband had seen the Frenchman tackle the suspect and had tried to intervene, but was shot in the neck.
The Americans spoke about the incident. Stone, an off-duty US airman, said he had just woken from a deep sleep when he saw the gunman and moved to restrain him. "I turned around and I saw he had what looked to be an AK-47, and it looked like it was jammed or wasn't working, and he was trying to charge the weapon. Alek just hit me on the shoulder and said 'Let's go' and we ran down and tackled him. We hit the ground."
Stone was the first of the three to reach the gunman. He was cut in the neck and on the eyebrow, and his thumb was almost sliced off. Stone also tended to Moogalian, who had been shot in the neck.
Hollande said Stone had "probably saved Moogalian's life".
Sadler said: "The gunman would have been successful if my friend Spencer had not gotten up. I want that lesson to be learned, in times of terror like that, to please do something. Don't just stand by and watch."
The Legion d'honneur was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. The award is divided into five categories; the men are receiving the chevalier, the medal most commonly awarded.
Rico says bravery is a rare commodity, and these men deserve their medals, and more...
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