U.S. airman who disarmed train gunman to receive Purple Heart

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

US | Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:41pm EDT

U.S. airman who disarmed train gunman to receive Purple Heart

WASHINGTON | BY YEGANEH TORBATI

A U.S. airman who helped disarm a gunman on a Paris-bound train last month will receive a Purple Heart medal, the U.S. Air Force leader said on Monday, in an unusual award of the honor to a serviceman wounded while not in a combat zone.

Spencer Stone, 23, will receive the medal, which is given to troops wounded or killed in action against a U.S. enemy, U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah James said in remarks at the Air Force Association Conference.

Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, a civilian, were vacationing in Europe last month when they saw a gunman on board a train from Amsterdam to Paris armed with a box cutter, a pistol, and a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle.

They have said they had no choice but to intervene when the gunman cocked the rifle. Stone, whose thumb was almost severed by the attacker, has been credited with saving the life of another passenger who had been shot.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/14/france-train-medals-idUSKCN0RE28S20150914

[Gothmog]

1. This is a well deserved honor for this young hero

[Human101948]

2. No it is not. It is a political abuse of the award.

This is an recognition for soldiers wounded in combat. This demeans the Purple Heart.

[Jim Lane]

3. It's in accordance with criteria adopted in 1973.

Information about U.S. military decorations is in Army Regulation 600–8–22. On numbered page 22 (the 38th page of the document) is section 2-8(b), which sets forth the circumstances under which the Purple Heart is to be awarded. Section 2-8(b)(6) reads:

After 28 March 1973, as a result of an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack by the SECARMY, or jointly by the Secretaries of the separate armed Services concerned if persons from more than one Service are wounded in the attack.

I'd say this incident fits.

[Human101948]

4. I stand corrected...

Living in the past I guess.