The military services are considering which awards, if any, the two U.S. troops who thwarted a Paris train attack may be eligible for, the Pentagon said Monday.
Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone and Spc. Alex Skarlatos, who serves in the Oregon Army National Guard, subdued an armed gunman on Friday onboard a passenger train bound for Paris who was carrying 300 rounds of ammunition, firearms and a knife, according to reports.
“Airman Stone and Specialist Alex Skarlatos are two reasons why — on duty and off — ours is the finest fighting force the world has ever known,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement on Saturday.
Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the services are considering which U.S. awards, if any, may be appropriate, and said any awards would come from individual services, not the Defense Department.
Service members who were killed or injured in acts of domestic terrorism, such shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, or a recruiting office in Little Rock, Ark., have received the Purple Heart, though it took years of effort in Congress. Davis said he could not immediately think of another incident where a service member had performed an act of valor off the battlefield that could be eligible for an award.
Stone was injured in the attack, but is “on the road to recovery,” Davis said. Both he and Skarlatos will arrive in Germany Monday afternoon, where Stone will receive additional medical treatment.
Stone and Skarlatos, along with their civilian friend, received the French Legion of Honor on Monday from French President Francois Hollande, the New York Times reported.
“Your heroism must be an example for many and a source of inspiration,” Hollande said, according to the article. “Faced with the evil of terrorism, there is a good, that of humanity. You are the incarnation of that.”
Moroccan Ayoub El Khazzani is in police custody following the attack, but denied that he was planning an act of terror, the New York Times reported.
