“Let’s go.”
That is what Alek Skarlatos, an American, said to Spencer Stone, another American, aboard a Paris-bound train on Friday when they saw a gunman running down the aisle.
The two friends tackled the alleged assailant, Ayoub El-Khazzani, who was armed with a Kalashnikov, an automatic pistol and a box cutter. A third friend, Anthony Sadler — also an American — helped them subdue the apparent terrorist.
In times of crisis, Sadler later told French reporters, “do something …. Don’t just stand by and watch.”
EDITORIAL
We are reminded, of course, of an almost identical call to action 14 years ago next month: “Let’s roll.”
That is what Todd Beamer, a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93, famously said when he and others tried to take back the plane from 9/11 hijackers.
They were not successful. The plane was crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa.
But Beamer and his fellow passengers were heroes. American heroes.
We can’t help but wonder if Beamer’s spirit flowed through three more American heroes on Friday.
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