Spencer Stone

Spencer John Stone was born on August 13, 1992, in Sacramento, California, to Brian Stone and Joyce Eskel. Stone has two siblings; an older brother Everett, who is a California Highway Patrolman in Redwood City and an older sister, Kelly. Growing up in Carmichael, Stone met his now-best friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler while attending the small K-12 Freedom Christian School in Fair Oaks, continuing their friendship into adulthood. Stone played basketball in junior year through to senior year. A teacher and coach said Stone was always looking out for family and friends: "His blue-collar attitude and how he cared about others, he would have been the one to step up rather than curl into a ball," and that, "He was always trying to pick up his teammates, giving them a high five." == 2015 Thalys train attack ==

On August 21, 2015, Stone and his childhood friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler were traveling together during a sightseeing vacation in Europe when they boarded Thalys train 9364 from Amsterdam bound for Paris via Brussels. Stone had been serving at the United States Air Force 65th Air Base Group and was on leave before returning home. A 25-year-old Moroccan man, Ayoub El-Khazzani, was in train car No. 12, armed with a fully automatic Draco short barrel carbine and carrying an additional nine 30-round magazines of ammunition. Several people tried to stop the gunman, but failed to do so. Stone had been awakened by the sound of the shot and of the breaking glass, with Skarlatos telling Stone to go. Armenian-American teacher and musician Mark Moogalian had wrested the carbine from Ayoub El-Khazzani, the terrorist, but was grievously wounded, shot by a Luger pistol his assailant had retained, who then retrieved his carbine from the floor. After the Draco misfired, Stone rushed El-Khazzani, tackling the terrorist. While holding him on the floor, Stone was stabbed up in the neck and eyebrow and had his thumb nearly severed. Skarlatos stated that "I was thinking about survival," and "[i]t was to survive and for everybody else on the train to make it." After the gunman was disarmed and subdued, and until he was relieved by French EMT's at the next stop, Stone provided continuing life-saving first aid to Moogalian, who had received a bullet through his back, chest and neck. Moogalian's wife, Isabelle Risacher-Moogalian, credited Stone for saving her husband's life. Stone was transferred to the central hospital in Lille, France, and underwent treatment in Germany, before returning home to California on September 3, 2015. International recognition After the event, Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler received international attention for their actions in preventing the attack. French president François Hollande awarded Stone, his friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, as well as British businessman Chris Norman, France's highest decoration, Knights of the Legion of Honour (''Chevaliers de la Légion d'honneur''). Hollande said the men "faced [off] with terror" and that they "gave us a lesson in courage, in will, and therefore in hope". The White House expressed gratitude for "courage and quick thinking of several passengers, including U.S. service members, who selflessly subdued the attacker..." U.S. President Barack Obama telephoned the three Americans, thanking them for their heroic actions. General Philip M. Breedlove of the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, added his voice, calling the three Americans heroes for their actions which "clearly illustrate the courage and commitment our young men and women have all the time, whether they are on duty or on leave." Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, California, held a parade to honor Skarlatos, Sadler, Stone, and the victims of the September 11 attacks. Stone was awarded a United States Air Force Airman's Medal and a Purple Heart at a ceremony held at The Pentagon. The trial of the terrorist and his three alleged accomplices went forward in November 2020. Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos were scheduled to testify, but Stone was hospitalized in France for undisclosed reasons and his testimony was delayed. Despite that, the prosecutors got the sentences they sought: El Khazzani, for attempted murders and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, received a life sentence, while the three accomplices who helped him to travel from Syria to France and armed him, Bilal Chatra, Rédouane El Amrani Ezzerrifi, and Mohamed Bakkali, received 27 years, 7 years, and 25 years, respectively. El Khazzani admitted that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was killed by French police in 2015, had masterminded the attack. == Career ==

2012–2016 After high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and went on to become an aerospace medical services technician. Stone was initially assigned to the 60th Medical Operations Squadron pediatrics flight at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, as a medical technician responsible for screening children who needed to be treated, and trained at United States Forces Azores. João Santos, a trainer of Stone, said that he is "a really nice guy, polite, well-educated and very keen on learning." 2016–present Since his departure from the United States Air Force, Stone has made several public appearances. Honored at the Spike's annual 2016 Guys' Choice Awards, Stone and his friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler accepted the hero award on June 4, 2016, from actor Clint Eastwood, sharing a conversation with him backstage. "People try and ask us what's the coolest things we've done, but I can name 100. It's hard to categorize them," Stone said. A publicist for Perseus Books Group sensationalized their forthcoming memoir as "the gripping true story of a terrorist attack that would have killed more than 500 people if not for their actions, but it is also the story of three American boys, their friendship, and the values we hold dear." In the acknowledgements, Stone stated that he "give[s] all the credit to God" and made further acknowledgement of his family, friends, the United States Air Force, the citizens of Sacramento and the United States Armed Forces. Stone, Skarlatos, and Sadler appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in October 2016 as a part of a special "Hometown Heroes" week. Playing as a team, they won $250,000. In July 2017, it was announced that Clint Eastwood would direct the upcoming biographical film titled after Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler's memoir, starring them, along with actresses Jenna Fischer and Judy Greer. Filming began on July 11, 2017. The film was released in the United States on February 9, 2018. The film received a generally negative reception from critics, who were largely critical of the acting by the three leads, though critic Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com expressed that "[the film]'s affable nothingness [was] redeemed only by the laid-back charisma of three men". == Stabbing ==

On October 8, 2015, during an altercation, Stone was stabbed by Californian James Tran, 28, in downtown Sacramento. He was rushed to UC Davis Medical Center and was released from the hospital on October 15. (left) at a ceremony in The Pentagon courtyard in September 2015. Tran made his first appearance in Sacramento County Superior Court on November 6, 2015, charged of the attempted murder of Stone with an allegation of using a dangerous weapon, the knife. He was ordered to be held without bail. Tran pleaded guilty. On May 12, 2017, he was sentenced to nine years in state prison. He was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison with a scheduled release date of May 2022. == Personal life ==

In January 2016, Stone accepted First Lady Michelle Obama's invitation to attend Barack Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address. Stone "had a heartbreaking moment" when a daughter of one of the victims of the 2015 San Bernardino attack in San Bernardino, California, thanked him for his role in stopping the Thalys train attack; Stone giving her a hug in response. and according to Le Monde retroactively to April 2018, when they applied for French nationality. On January 31, 2019 they attended a naturalization ceremony in Sacramento and received their naturalization certificates. Stone competed with Sadler on the 33rd season of The Amazing Race. They completed three legs of the race before filming was shut down on February 28, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When production resumed 19 months later in September 2021, Sadler and Stone, along with 3 other teams from their season, were unable to return to the race due to extenuating circumstances; in their case, a recent promotion at Sadler's work left him unable to take the required time off for filming. == Bibliography ==

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