Ooh-rah.
Ralph Ellis and Paul Cruickshank, CNN:
A massacre on a high-speed train in France was prevented Friday when two U.S. Marines in civilian clothing surprised an Islamist militant, a senior European counterterrorism official told CNN.
The suspect was loading his automatic Kalashnikov rifle in a toilet when the two Marines confronted him, the source said…
The Marines overpowered the suspect, who was placed under arrest when the train was rerouted to the town of Arras, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Paris. One of the Marines was wounded, the Pentagon said.
The gunman, a Moroccan national, was on the radar screen of European counterterrorism agencies for his radical jihadist views, the official said.
“Radical jihadist views.” Imagine that.
God bless the United States Marine Corps. This bastard was about to kill a lot of people, and managed to wound three, but these men stopped him. And if they were on liberty, it’s even more impressive. Who knows what sort of state they were in when they wrecked this terrorist’s $#!+.
Semper Fi, gentlemen. You’ll never need to buy another round again.
Update: Looks like CNN got the military branches wrong. According to the Air Force Times…
A heroic airman was one of three Americans who prevented a massacre aboard a French train by taking down a gunman before he could kill passengers.
Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone suffered “non-life threatening injuries” when he helped subdue the gunman, along with Spc. Alek Skarlatos, an Oregon National Guardsman, and a civilian friend, who were all traveling together, according to U.S. European Command.
My opinion of the United States Marines stands, but the other branches are good too. These guys are heroes. Here’s one of them describing what happened:
If that piece of garbage had figured out how to fix his weapon, it could’ve been a lot worse. I’m hoping the usual suspects don’t try to cast doubt on the bravery of these men, just because this terrorist was incompetent.