Just a quick note of gratitude to our two off-duty Marines who stopped a terrorist attack today on a Thalys high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris, at the expense of one being shot and the other slashed with a boxcutter.

They saved dozens, if not hundreds, of lives by stopping the 26 year old Moroccan with an AK and a pistol, all because they saw something, paid attention, and took decisive action.

I would like to think that any of us would have done the same thing (though not as well as two active duty Marines, obviously), because it was the right thing.

Not being a Marine, I will refrain from shouting out their motto, as it is not mine to shout, but God bless these guys, and all of our servicemen and women (hey, two women just passed Ranger school - I'm glad they're on our side).

- Eric

 

I couldn't be more proud of our armed services. And the thought of an angry woman with ranger training is too scary to think about!

 

Incidentally, the news now is suggesting the Americans were three high school friends - one regular Army, one National Guard, and one civilian - to emphasize my hope that even those of us without "special" training would have jumped on this mope in a heartbeat.

- Eric

 

I just watched a news story on these guys. The report said they were 10 meters away when the terrorist was changing out the clip on his AK47. That's when they rushed him. Man, can't heap enough praise on these guys!!!

 

Thanks for the post Eric, I think it's great to acknowledge what these men did. And btw, you pm box is full up.

 

Whoops - I saw that and sent an e-mail to 2Blu442 (I always get your handles confused).

So, John, sorry, ignore my e-mail.

And, TRU-Blu, yeah, I can't deal with my inbox anymore. Too many click to read, delete, review, etc. 200 message limit is ridiculous.

You can e-mail me through the link under my handle on the left side of this post.

- Eric

 

No biggie, thanks again for sharing this story with everyone!
John

 

Thanks to both Eric's one for bringing this story to light as i missed the news on this story.These military guys are hero's.Thanks to the other Eric for the clean up.

 

There's a brief interview on the BBC with three of the guys who did it: One British guy, one American soldier, and his American college-student buddy (the other soldier is in the hospital) here.

The same page has an interview with the college student's parents.

These were not special warfare operators - they were two soldiers on leave and a regular college kid, and they did not screw around.

- Eric

 

Put guys like these on the trains, and Glaswegian baggage handlers at all the airports and we can all make our journeys in confidence of a safe arrival .

I note from the BBC news the misguided idiot who was the wannabe terrorist is claiming he was only trying to rob passengers.
Pack him off to Allah I say, to be buggered for eternity with 71 other virgin men who didn't read the small print......

Roger.

 

I hope they F'D the guy up real bad while subduing him ! The guy would be done if it were me !

 

I couldn't agree more.


They said they beat him in the head repeatedly with the stock of his own gun - Heck, the reason they can't positively identify him may be that he doesn't remember his own name...

- Eric

 

I always thought ti was virgin camels.Tedd......

 

Okay, I hope this isn't beating a dead horse, but the definitive information about the three Americans who knocked out the terrorist is now available.

One is a Specialist with the Oregon Army National Guard, who returned in July from a 9-month deployment in Afghanistan.
One is an Airman First Class stationed in the Azores.
One is a college student in a Sports Trainer program, who wants to go to medical school.
The two military members are on leave, and the three are on a one-month trip around Europe together.

My point: This is a very WWII-era sounding story - three regular young guys, two from different branches of the military, one a civilian, nobody with any "special" training, all just doing the thing they had to do, because someone had to do it.

That, gentlemen, is what I see as the essence of Americans, and what all of us, from time to time, worry we may be losing in these computerized times.

Looks like we're still making young people with the guts to do what they need to do.

- Eric

 

Hats off to these guys for making the right decisions to protect the innocent.
Glad to see some good news from time to time....

 

They are heroes, no one knows how they will react in the same situation. We all hope that if we were in the same situation we'd also act accordingly.

 

Good job, We salute you