Did you know? The Patriot Post is funded 100% by its readers. Help us stay front and center in the fight for Liberty and support the 2024 Year-End Campaign.

August 24, 2015

Americans Headed for Paris Save the Day

Three men stop a terrorist attack on French train.

When the French are in trouble, they can always count on the American military. Granted, this military victory was on a much smaller scale, but it was a good one nonetheless. Airman First Class Spencer Stone, Oregon National Guard Specialist Alek Skarlatos (recently returned from deployment in Afghanistan) and their friend Anthony Sadler subdued a would-be jihadi mass murderer on a French train Friday. On vacation and having just changed cars for a better WiFi signal, the three were in prime position to stop Ayoub El-Khazzani, a 26-year-old Moroccan national who was on French radar for supposed radical Islamist activity. El-Khazzani boarded the train with a pistol and an AK-47 with the obvious intent to kill as many people as possible. But before he could, Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler rushed him and wrestled him to the ground. “He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end. So were we,” Stone said later. British businessman Chris Norman said he was inspired by their bravery and joined to help, binding the jihadi’s hands with a tie. Stone nearly lost his thumb to El-Khazzani’s box cutter, but as a trained medical technician he first turned his attention to another wounded passenger. Skarlatos gave his account of the takedown: “I just looked over at Spencer and said, ‘Let’s go!’ Spencer got to the guy first, grabbed the guy by the neck, and I grabbed the handgun, got the handgun away from the guy and threw it. Then I grabbed the AK, which was at his feet, and started muzzle thumping him in the head with it.” And some guys do just need a few thumps in the head. It’s nice to see members of the American military there to do the job, even on a day off in France. The three Americans and their British compatriot were made French knights and awarded the Legion of Honor medal, France’s highest decoration.

> Update: The Air Force will nominate Stone for the Airman’s Medal, the highest award for bravery outside of combat. He may also receive a Purple Heart for his injuries.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.