Spencer Stone, one of the three American heroes to tackle an armed Moroccan man on a Paris train, returned to the US in front of a cheering crowd.
He is the last of the three Americans that stopped the terrorist attack to return to the US. His childhood friends, College student Anthony Sadler and National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos had already arrived on US soil on the 21st of August. All three men hail from the Sacramento area.
Stone was the only American to require medical attention following the incident. Among other injuries, he suffered serious lacerations to his left hand, which needed surgery. According to Chuck Roberts, a spokesman for the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, stone is “still progressing well”.
Apart from a bandaged hand, no sign of a medical problem was to be perceived from the cheerful Spencer Stone upon his arrival yesterday at Travis Air Force Base. He waved at the 200 strong crowd who gathered to greet him – a lot of them waving small American flags – before hugging his family and proceeding towards the terminal.
Lt. Col Robert Couse-Baker with the Travis AFB declared that Stone was to be immediately transported to the air base’s hospital for medical evaluation.
No statement to the press was given by airman 1st Class Spencer Stone upon his arrival.
Master Sargent Tanya Hubbard, one of his former COs at Travis AFB had this to say:
“We’re just very proud of him. And it’s not really a surprise to any of us what he did. He’s got a lot of integrity. He’s just an all-around great guy.”
In a statement give to CBS Sacramento, his high school basketball coach described Stone as a reserved individual, “quiet and humble” who didn’t demand to be the center of attention and didn’t pursue to be given any special treatment.
Spencer Stone was one of the people who subdue a heavily armed Moroccan man on a train running to Paris. The three American heroes were assisted by several passengers on the train. The potential Muslim terrorist was armed with an AK 47, among other assorted small arms and knives found in his luggage. Ayoub el-Khazani, the perpetrator, was well known to European police forces as a Muslim extremist and had just returned to Europe after fighting in Syria.
The mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, announced a parade for September the 11th, following the three heroes’ arrival. The parade is going to take place along Capitol Mall.
Photo Credits: media.cmgdigital.com