"Semper FI !" Topic

As a daily train commuter I walk the same platform as the Thalys high speed train twice each day.

Today a man with an AK-47 tried to commit a shooting on the very same train but was stopped by a pair of US marines.

Semper Fi, United States Marine Corps !

Some reports say two or three; some say U.S. servicemen; some say one was injured…

According to BBC it was 3 Marines, one was seriously injured, and a civilian was hurt. They heard the weapon being loaded in the bathroom.

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Thank goodness for these quick thinking men. Here's to a quick recovery for the injured Marine and the civilian.

What a useless ing scumbag. I hope he received a few good knocks before the police took him away.
--
Tim

Quick thinking action by those Marines prevented a tragedy … Semper fi!

Damn fine work chaps, damn fine work.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve travelled to Arras in the wake of the attack.
He said: "As always where an act that could be terrorist in nature is involved, the greatest care and the greatest precision will be used."
He praised the Americans who overpowered the suspect.
Mr Cazeneuve said they were "particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very difficult circumstances", adding: "Without their composure we could have been confronted with a terrible incident."

M Cazeneuve and the Belgian Prime Minister both acknowledged that it was a terrorist attack. Ahem.
And M Cazeneuve thanked the Americans.
Pass me some FRENCH FRIES please.

At the risk of spelling it wrong, "Ooorah!"

Hope this link works…

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Not marines from what's being reported now, but whatever service they are, that's some damned quick thinking and brave actions – no question that they've saved lives.

CBS news this morning reported a National Guardsman,
active Air Force and a civilian friend of the other two
were the folks who stopped the attack.

There were slight injuries to one or two of them and to
another passenger, cuts for the most part.

Well done, gentlemen, well done.

Latest news is that there were two American servicemen, an American civilian friend of theirs, and a British businessman who overpowered the terrorist.

Well done to all of them! Another fine example of Anglo-American co-operation!

I wonder what all the Frenchmen on the train were doing….

According to French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who was on the train with his family, the French crew of the train ran to a safe room and locked the door.

The airman, I believe, tackled the muslim terrorist first. He was stabbed and cut numerous times. The National Guardsman, his friend and a British citizen disarmed the terrorist and beat him "on the head" until he was unconscious. They tied him up and administered first aid to a victim who had been shot in the neck.

The National Guardsman had just returned from a deployment in the middle east.

French Interior Minister Bernad Cazenueve, speaking in Arras where the train was diverted, said the Americans "were particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very difficult circumstances," and that "without their sangfroid we could have been confronted with a terrible drama."

The American Service men acted as I would expect. The "well done Sir" goes to the British civilian, Chris Norman, who participated in the smack down. From his picture middle age Dad or Grandfather. Thank you Mr. Norman for the lives you helped save.

Probably what the crew were trained to do in the event of such a thing, I guess.

Anyway, even given the poor fellow who was shot in the neck, this is a very uplifting story.

I tend to think of Air Force personnel in any country as support personnel for aircraft and, not necessarily trained for unarmed combat type situations. Of course, I may be mistaken as I'm not even familiar with our own Air Force training, but for me, this just makes the story even more powerful.

It's also an interesting illustration of how a story develops, re the initial reports of Marines or what have you. We see this again and again and I bet most of us have experienced being in a crowd and hearing rumours, albeit in my experience far more benign, spreading like the cliche wildfire.
--
Tim

Before people start on a French-bashing campaign, let me remind you that this is a trans-European train, operated by people from Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, UK, France, Spain and probably quite a few people from North Africa, Turkey and other places.

They may not have been Marines, but they did something only a few of us would be able to emulate. We're easily brave heroes in our own mind, but having been in high-stress situations before, it's not as clear cut as you may think.

I certainly won't bash the French Troops, they are very good.

Whoever they actually were (god that is a lot of conflicting reports), they definitely deserve our thanks.

At least one Frenchman got involved:

'French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who cut his finger it to the bone while activating the train's emergency alarm, heaped praise on the Americans, recounting the high emotion of the episode to Paris Match.'

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The story is that a terrorist attack was foiled due to the intervention of bystanders and not by security forces The attacker was known and identified as a potential terrorist by at least three countries and yet is not only allowed to walk around free and not under any surveillance but is able to board an international train armed with an assault weapon

Let this serve to put an end to any disparaging comments about either the US Air Force or the National Guard.

to our two servicemen and their brave civilian friend..Out..xxxxxxx…standing, Gentlemen! and to that "stiff upper lip" Englishman…jolly good show, Sir!