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| Americans Resist Hero Label After Foiling Train Attack | Americans Resist Hero Label After Foiling Train Attack |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| PARIS — Looking awed by the sumptuous gilded surroundings of the United States ambassador’s residence here, the three young American men who thwarted an attack on a Paris-bound express train appeared at a news conference on Sunday, brushing aside suggestions that they were heroes. | |
| Airman First Class Spencer Stone; Alek Skarlatos, a specialist in the Oregon National Guard; and Anthony Sadler, a friend of theirs, sat side by side, soberly recounting how a European vacation swiftly turned into something else. In their telling, the dramatic moments in the railway car could have been a particularly lively finish to an otherwise great night out: no heroics, and nothing dramatic about it. | Airman First Class Spencer Stone; Alek Skarlatos, a specialist in the Oregon National Guard; and Anthony Sadler, a friend of theirs, sat side by side, soberly recounting how a European vacation swiftly turned into something else. In their telling, the dramatic moments in the railway car could have been a particularly lively finish to an otherwise great night out: no heroics, and nothing dramatic about it. |
| Asked what had motivated him to confront a heavily armed man, Mr. Stone, his arm in a sling and one eye bruised from the struggle with the young Moroccan suspect, said simply, “To survive.” | Asked what had motivated him to confront a heavily armed man, Mr. Stone, his arm in a sling and one eye bruised from the struggle with the young Moroccan suspect, said simply, “To survive.” |
| There was no mistaking the gunman’s determination, Mr. Stone said. “He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end, and so were we,” he told reporters. | There was no mistaking the gunman’s determination, Mr. Stone said. “He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end, and so were we,” he told reporters. |
| He was the first of the Americans to tackle the suspect, Ayoub El Khazzani, and he spoke first, blurting out the story as if he were eager to get it over with. | He was the first of the Americans to tackle the suspect, Ayoub El Khazzani, and he spoke first, blurting out the story as if he were eager to get it over with. |
| “I kind of woke up from the middle of a deep sleep,” Mr. Stone said. “I turned around and I saw he had an AK-47 and it looked like” the weapon “wasn’t working, and he was trying to charge his weapon, and Alek just hit on my shoulder and said, ‘Let’s go,’” Mr. Stone said. “And I went down, tackled him and put him on the ground, and Alek came up and grabbed the thing out of his hand.” | “I kind of woke up from the middle of a deep sleep,” Mr. Stone said. “I turned around and I saw he had an AK-47 and it looked like” the weapon “wasn’t working, and he was trying to charge his weapon, and Alek just hit on my shoulder and said, ‘Let’s go,’” Mr. Stone said. “And I went down, tackled him and put him on the ground, and Alek came up and grabbed the thing out of his hand.” |
| But the trouble was not over. “It seemed like he just kept pulling more weapons,” Mr. Stone said. Those included a box cutter with which he sliced up the young airman’s hand. | But the trouble was not over. “It seemed like he just kept pulling more weapons,” Mr. Stone said. Those included a box cutter with which he sliced up the young airman’s hand. |
| The three held Mr. Khazzani and punched him until he fell unconscious. “The guy had a lot of ammo,” Mr. Skarlatos said. | The three held Mr. Khazzani and punched him until he fell unconscious. “The guy had a lot of ammo,” Mr. Skarlatos said. |
| Right to the end of the brief encounter with reporters here, the men remained modest. “It was just, mostly, survival,” Mr. Skarlatos said. | Right to the end of the brief encounter with reporters here, the men remained modest. “It was just, mostly, survival,” Mr. Skarlatos said. |
| “Hiding and sitting back is not going to do anything,” Mr. Sadler said. | “Hiding and sitting back is not going to do anything,” Mr. Sadler said. |