Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts

Monday, August 24, 2015

Modest American Heroes Honored in France

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France honors 3 Americans, Briton for stopping train attack


By Faith Karimi and Nic Robertson, CNN
Updated 8:46 AM ET, Mon August 24, 2015

(CNN)They grew up together, fought off an attacker together and accepted a nation's honor together.

Three days after they pounced and subdued a gunman aboard a packed train, American childhood friends Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos got the Legion of Honor -- France's highest recognition.

Fellow British passenger Chris Norman, who helped tackle the gunman, also received the award during Monday's ceremony at the Élysée Palace.

"By their courage, they saved lives," President François Hollande said. "They gave us an example of what is possible to do in these kinds of situations."

The four stopped a potential massacre Friday aboard the high-speed train headed from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Paris.

"Three Americans and one Englishman ... you risked your lives to defend an ideal, the ideal of liberty and freedom," Hollande said.

Another passenger -- a French national who has not gone public -- also confronted the gunman and will be honored at a later date.

Napoleon Bonaparte established the Legion of Honor in 1802 to recognize exceptional leaders and unusual achievements.'He never said a word'


'He never said a word'


The four were in the same train car when gunfire erupted. Shortly afterward, a shirtless man appeared with a gun slung over his shoulder.

"He never said a word," said Sadler, a student at California State University in Sacramento. "At that time, it was either do something or die."

They charged at the gunman, and a fierce struggle ensued.

"He kept pulling more weapons left and right," Stone said, his arm in a sling from injuries suffered in the struggle. "He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end. So were we."

They punched the suspect, choked him and hit him with his own weapons. They finally restrained him before the train pulled up in Arras in northern France.

The confrontation left Stone, a U.S. Air Force member who tackled the attacker first, with wounds in the head, hand and neck. He was hospitalized and released.

"It is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy," President Barack Obama said.


Inspired to act

Norman said he was honored to receive the medal and ecstatic to be alive -- together with all the passengers on the train.

"I am happy that no one got hurt," he said. "Spence and Alek are the two guys who we should really thank the most because they were the first ones who actually got up and did it."

When they took action, Norman jumped in as well.

"That gave me the impetus to get up and do it," he said. "They galvanized me to go."


Witness: I was not ready to die

New York social worker Christina Coons, who was aboard the train, said she didn't think she would make it.

"The thoughts that were running through my mind were, ' I'm I going to die ... I'm not ready to die,' " she told CNN's "New Day" amid tears. "I have so much more to do with my life. I'm only 28 years old."

She said she owed her life to the passengers who tackled the gunman.

"I'm incredibly grateful to those men. ... They are fantastic human beings," she said. "Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart."


Report: Suspect says he intended to rob train

The alleged gunman, identified as Moroccan national Ayoub El Khazzani, said he only intended to conduct a robbery, not a terror act, his attorney Sophie David told CNN affiliate BFMTV.

David said her client told her he found the firearms in a public garden next to a train station in Brussels, Belgium.

But authorities said with the kind of firepower he had, it appears he was planning a massacre.
He had an AK-47 assault weapon with nine magazines of ammunition, a Luger pistol with extra ammo and a box cutter, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

"The guy had a lot of ammo," said Skarlatos, a National Guardsman based in Oregon. "His intentions were pretty clear."


Spain, France aware of suspect

Spanish officials said the suspect's family moved to Spain from Morocco in 2007.

He was linked to investigations into radical Islamist networks, a senior European counterterrorism official said. His DNA was on file with Spanish authorities, French media reported.

There are indications he traveled to Turkey between May and July, probably to try to join up with ISIS in Syria, a senior European counterterrorism official told CNN terror analyst Paul Cruickshank.

ISIS operatives are using Turkey as a base to redirect European extremists trying to travel to Syria to launch attacks back home, according to Cruickshank.


Link to ISIS fighters?

Investigators have yet to make a final determination on El Khazzani's travel. He was likely linked to ISIS fighters in Turkey, according to the counterterrorism official

It's unclear whether he made it to Syria or what he did to attract the attention of Spanish authorities. Spanish police alerted France he was preparing to travel to the latter country last year, Cazeneuve said

Beyond that, there appears to be a disagreement between French and Spanish sources about who knew what and when.

The suspect is in custody undergoing interrogation.
CNN's Jason Moon, Jessica Moskowitz and Tim Lister contributed to this report.



New York Daily Mail

'He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end ... So were we': American heroes in France recall fight with train gunman

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, August 23, 2015, 1:17 PM


From right, Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler and Spencer Stone conduct a press conference, along with with  U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley (l.), about the men's heroics on the European train.

As a heroic American struggled to subdue a gunman with terrorist ties aboard a train in northern France, one thought raced through his mind: survival.


Off-duty U.S. Air Force member Spencer Stone recalled Sunday the harrowing moments when he and his two best friends pummeled the would-be killer, fighting for their lives.

Stone said he had just woken up from a deep sleep when he saw the shooter, identified as Ayoub El-Khazzani, brandishing an AK-47. Stone's friend, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, said they had to act.



"Alek just hit me on the shoulder and said, 'Let's go,'" Stone recalled in a Paris press conference.

"I put him in a chokehold. It seemed like he kept pulling more weapons left and right," Stone added.
The shooter, who never spoke, pulled out a box cutter and stabbed Stone in the hand and neck.

During the brief confrontation, a French-American passenger was wounded by a bullet.

That's when Skarlatos began bashing the shooter with the butt of his own rifle. The third member of Skarlatos' group, college student Anthony Sadler, punched the Moroccan national in the head as Stone choked him unconscious.


Stone had only had one thing on his mind: "Survival. For myself and for my friends and for everyone else on the train."

British businessman Chris Norman joined the scrum.

"He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end," Stone said of the gunman, who the men guessed was 160 pounds and 5 feet, 10 inches tall.

"So were we."

It could have been much worse.


Skarlatos said El-Khazzani didn't know how to use his weapon.

"He clearly had no firearms training whatsoever," Skarlatos said of the 26-year-old reportedly known to Spanish anti-terrorism officials.

"If he'd had more training … we probably wouldn't be here today."

After El-Khazzani was subdued, the men began helping wounded passengers. Stone stuck his finger in a wounded passenger's neck, pinching an artery.

"In the beginning it was mostly gut instinct, survival," Skarlatos said. "Our training kicked in after the struggle."

Sadler said the experience taught him that one must act when confronted with extreme crisis.

"Do something. Hiding or sitting back is not going to accomplish anything," Sadler said.
The intense confrontation still hadn't sunk in for the three Americans.

"It feels very unreal. Feels like a dream," Stone said.



U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley echoed President Obama's praise of the men.

"We often use the word 'hero' and in this case I know that word has never been more appropriate," Hartley said. "They are truly heroes. When most of us would run away, Spencer, Alek and Anthony ran into the line of fire, saying, 'Let's go.' Those words changed the fate of many."
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Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Tim Howard Wins USA Loses in World Cup Quarters

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Despite a record performance by goalie Tim Howard and a shot of adrenalin in the final 12 minutes by two USA rookies the bookies had it right, Belgium was the better team.  Yet perhaps the future is brighter with the World Cup drawing about 27 million viewers, second in sports only to the Super Bowl for a single sports broadcast, according to overnights.


The headlines said it all.

Human wall Tim Howard sets World Cup save record in U.S. loss to Belgium

Tim Howard Emerges As Hero In U.S. World Cup Loss


As one story reported...

Howard's performance emerged as a brilliant star turn in a tense game that saw Belgium's lauded young stars make repeated runs at the U.S. net, streaking past American defenders. They sent the ball high and low – and for more than 90 minutes, Howard turned them all away.

But two shots eluded the goalie in the extra periods, dashing the Americans' hopes of reaching the quarterfinals.

"We dreamed and again we fell short of our dream," Howard said afterwards. "Gosh, we were right there. We nearly had it. But this is a young group and we'll be back for more."

To put the 16 saves in perspective, we'll note that back in 2010, Howard was named man of the match for making 8 saves against England, in a 1-1 draw that was also his World Cup debut. His accomplishment in Tuesday's game might glow even brighter in the future, as a talented and young Belgian team could go on to rain goals down on their opponents.

Even Belgium's captain, Vincent Kompany, joined in praising Howard Tuesday.


Two words.. TIM HOWARD #Respect #BelUSA


Seems as if one fan went so far as to hack Wikipedia and change the Secretary of Defense photo into our new Secretary of Defense.



Here is what The New York Times had to say about the game. 



Wild Ride by U.S. Comes to End, but Soccer Is the Winner


World Cup 2014: Belgium Eliminates Team U.S.A.

SALVADOR, Brazil — It felt as if Tim Howard would never go down. As if the United States would never go down, standing there, taking shots like an undersize fighter clinging desperately to a puncher’s chance. Howard saved with his hands. His feet. His legs. His knees. At one point, Howard even had a shot bounce off the crest over his heart.

Trying to figure out where soccer fits into the fabric of America is a popular topic but, for one afternoon at least, there was this unexpected truth: All around the country, from coast to coast and through the nation’s belly, sports fans of every kind were inspired by the performance of a soccer goalkeeper. In a loss.

When it was over, the fans at the shimmering Arena Fonte Nova applauded knowingly, as if paying tribute to the ride this team provided. Americans purchased more tickets to games at this tournament than fans from any country other than Brazil. Television ratings in the United States blasted through ceilings, surpassing those of the N.B.A. finals or the World Series. Watch parties popped up in places far more varied than just craft breweries in Brooklyn, with fans gathering everywhere from Hermosa Beach in California to a library in Birmingham, Ala., to the Tulsa Drillers’ minor league baseball stadium in Oklahoma.

A gathering at Grant Park in Chicago was moved to Soldier Field to accommodate a crowd reported to have exceeded 25,000.

World Cups have been growing in popularity among Americans for some time, but this tournament has felt different. Explanations for the surge vary, with some pointing to Brazil’s time zone being favorable for American viewers, especially compared to South Africa four years ago. Others say soccer’s spike is simply the result of a growing Hispanic population in the United States as well as the inevitable aging of Millenials. A great number of soccer-loving children have now become consumer adults.

“These are all young people who grew up with the game, whether it be the English Premier League or Major League Soccer, and they don’t need to be convinced that soccer is a sport that is worthy of their attention,” said Don Garber, the commissioner of M.L.S. “The country has changed. This is a new America.”

Statistics seem to support that claim. Fourteen percent of people between the ages of 12 and 24 said professional soccer was their favorite sport, second only to the N.F.L., according to Rich Luker, who runs a sports research firm. That means a greater number of fans are more likely to continue following the sport even when the pageantry of the World Cup is over.

“Fans are connecting the dots,” said Jeff L’Hote, who runs a soccer-focused management consultancy. “One of the great things about the continued maturation of the sport is people know that Messi plays for Barcelona, not just Argentina.”

Whatever the baseline theory, the sheer entertainment value of this tournament has piqued interest even more. Including Tuesday’s games, 154 goals have been scored, which is more than the total for the entire 2010 World Cup. Also, for casual American fans who find watching games end in ties about as appealing as doing their taxes, the past few weeks have been a revelation: There were only nine draws in 48 group stage games, or four fewer than the average over the past four World Cups.

The grittiness of this United States team was an attraction, too. Drama, in one form or another, has followed the United States team ever since its pretournament training camp in May, starting with the uproar over Coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s decision to leave Landon Donovan at home.

Then came concerns about whether the Americans could win a must-have game against Ghana (yes, barely); whether they could get a decent result against Portugal (yes, agonizingly); and whether they could avoid a blowout against Germany (yes, mercifully).

“I think every player went to his limit,” Klinsmann said.

Tuesday followed a similarly tense script. Belgium, which won all three of its group games with late goals, was the aggressor from the start, neutralizing Klinsmann’s attempts to open up the American attack.

Divock Origi and Dries Mertens had early chances for Belgium, and things got worse for the United States when Fabian Johnson, one of the most reliable players on the outside, pulled up with a hamstring injury after half an hour.

The United States spent most of the rest of the game buckled in, holding off an onslaught from the Belgians with Howard standing squarely in the middle. Making it to extra time felt like a small victory on its own, but Lukaku’s fresh legs led to Kevin De Bruyne finally lashing a shot past Howard from close range. Moments later, Lukaku followed with a goal of his own, and the American fans slumped. The players, though, gathered together during the short break between the two 15-minute halves of extra time and steeled themselves for one last burst.

“If we were going home,” midfielder Michael Bradley said, “we wanted to go home going for it.”

And they did. Julian Green, a World Cup rookie, provided a flicker of hope with a smooth volley two minutes into the final period, and Howard made another slew of important saves to keep the game in range while the United States pushed and pushed and pushed.

The chances were there. Jermaine Jones blasted a shot over the net. A header went awry. Dempsey, at the end of a gorgeous passing play from a free kick, had his attempt smothered just yards away from the goal.

It was tantalizing and teasing. But this time the miracle never came. When the final whistle sounded, many of the American players simply collapsed, as if the strings holding up their legs had just been cut.

Howard was not one of them. He bent at the waist, only for a moment, his hands on his knees and his mouth open. Then he stood up tall and walked forward with his chest out.

It was fitting: Even in defeat, his tournament over, the American goalkeeper refused to tumble.

Ken Belson and Marc Tracy contributed reporting from New York.