USA! - Americans Foil Armed Jihadi On French Train

Troix Cow-boys américains rescousse de nouveau le jour!

At least that's what the French are saying about two Americans on a French train who took out an armed jihadi who was in the process of shooting it up:

A gunman opened fire aboard a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, wounding at least three people before two American passengers subdued him, French officials said.

The Americans were not immediately identified, but France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said they “were particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very difficult circumstances.’’

Capt. Jeff Davis, a Defense Department spokesman in Washington, said that an American military member was on the train and had been wounded in the episode. He said Pentagon officials had not yet confirmed the name or rank or service, or whether the second American also was a service member.

The jihadi, whom the New York times referred to below the fold as "described by French officials as a 26-year-old of Moroccan origin armed with an automatic weapon and a knife" began shooting up the the Amsterdam to Paris express in the northern French city of Arras, which may ring some bells for veterans of two World Wars. Their blood is part of that soil.

The two Americans didn't hesitate for a second. They jumped the armed jihadi with their bare hands, subdued him and held him until the French authorities arrived to collect him. If not for them, the casualty list would have been far higher.

It is a mark of our times that this story of American heroism is relegated to the back pages of Pravda-on-the-Hudson rather than meriting a front page spot. Frankly, I'm surprised they published it at all.

In France, it's headlines.

UPDATE: According to CNN and the Daily Mail, the two Americans were members of the U.S. Marines. They rushed the jihadi when they recognized the sound of him loading his Kalashnikov rifle. One of them was wounded subduing the gunman.

French authorities found 9 magazines of ammo on the train,holding almost 300 rounds. The jihadi also had a knife and a handgun. The train had 550 passengers on board, and there's no doubt that if it were not for these two Marines, a massacre would have occurred.

Correction and UPDATE: CNN had it wrong as usual. The LA Times and the UK Independent are reporting that the Americans were U.S. military on leave, Spencer Stone,an Air Force paramedic, and Alek Skarlatos, a U.S. soldier fresh from a tour of AfPak and a friend of theirs from Sacramento California where all three grew up, Anthony Sadler.

Not only did they subdue the would-be killer, but Stone saved one man's life in spite of being badly injured himself by stopping the bleeding from the man's throat which had been slit.

The jihadi, now identified as Ayoub el Khazani was actually on a terrorist watch list with French security.