Monday 24 August 2015

Credit where credit's due


Early this morning, the three Americans who disarmed the train terrorist were awarded a well-deserved medal by the President. Good for them. It had to be quick, because they are just about to finish their holiday.

The Frenchman who assisted wants to remain anonymous. I don't blame him. He has to live there after all, and you never know who will be out to get him or his family in the future. The French crew who barricaded themselves behind a steel door, ignoring shouts for help from the rest of their passengers have been defended by a minister who says they did exactly the right thing according to the rules...

The Englishman who assisted was not awarded anything other than a round of applause, but then again  there are historical reasons for this. England and France are still vaguely at war, albeit in the form of tetchy little squabbles over cheese which break out now and then.

The Englishman did, however, perform an act of selfless bravery which went far beyond the call of duty in a foreign land:

He removed his tie in public so that it could be used to bind the hands and feet of the terrorist!

HUZZAH!

34 comments:

  1. It makes me proud to be an Englishman. I mean, can you imagine removing your tie on a French train? I think not.

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  2. How can you be so wrong ?
    Go here http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/24/legion-dhonneur-for-men-who-prevented-carnage-on-french-train

    Three Americans and a Briton have been awarded France’s highest honour – the Légion d’honneur – for their roles in stopping a suspected terrorist attack on a train.

    The French president, François Hollande, said the two Americans who first tackled the gunman were soldiers, “but on Friday you were simply passengers. You behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men.”


    France train attack heroes: 'It feels unreal – like a dream'
    Read more
    Hollande pinned the medal on US airman Spencer Stone, national guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their friend Anthony Sadler, who subdued the gunman as he moved through the train with an assault rifle strapped to his bare chest. The British businessman, Chris Norman, who jumped into the fray, also received a medal.

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    1. What the fuck are you talking about? Do you think that we cannot read newspapers for ourselves? Do you believe everything that you read in those newspapers? I have not read that article and I don't intend to - the Guardian's far too left-wing for me. I am going on what the BBC said this morning which - incidentally - also said that the medal bestowed was not the highest honour in its category, but the lowest.

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    2. Oh, I've just remembered - I should have made allowances for your lack of humour.

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    3. My father in law received that medal a few weeks ago and was told it was the highest honor.

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    4. 'Chevalier' is the lowest in the category, or so I am told. What did your father in law get it for?

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    5. Sticking his finger in a dyke?

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    6. He was awarded it for his WW2 efforts. He landed on the beaches in Normandy. Your comment is insulting to a Veteran.

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    7. Somebody else who has lost their sense of humour today, then. All the males of my family were WW2 veterans, two were POWs and one - my father - was not only shot down in his Wellington bomber (only one in it when it crashed - rear gunner) but was also subsequently poisoned by a German spy. If I wanted to insult veterans, then I have plenty to choose from right here.

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  3. Whatever. If I had been on that train I would be forever grateful for what those men did and no award would ever be enough.

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    1. I agree. I was just trying to have a laugh at the expense of the English, that's all. I thought it might cheer up the Americans, who seem to think I don't like them. They are almost as touchy as Israelis.

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    2. Not easy to get this sort of humour across on blogs, especially with readers with different, or no sense of humour as above, and from different lands and cultures.

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    3. It was well understood even by us the people with no sense of humour and touchy, and i even liked very much that post.

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    4. Sorry , after reading again the comments i see that we are only in the touchy category, and it is ok with me.

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    5. It's ok with me too, Yael! I am not as right/left/ opinionated as some people think. I love life, and living things. Shalom!

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  4. The words "Jolly well done" should be enough for any so-called hero.

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  5. Your tieless Briton in France is a lovely character. "No, no, dear lads. Your shoelaces are not required; here is my tie."
    They all were quick thinking and fearless.

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  6. How many would have been brave enough to do what they did ? ….. not me, that's for sure. But, it just goes to show that bravery overcame and stopped that potential disaster…. who cares if they were American, British whatever. They deserve to be commended. XXXX

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    1. Oh shut up.

      XXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    2. Oh… I give up …. you obviously love people who tell you to fuck off ….. stalk you …. you then unfollow them …. they tell you to fuck off …. you tell them to fuck off ….. then you follow them again ….. suck up to them and are BFF's …… you all belong in the same playground. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    3. You'll be back. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      (See Racel's observation above).

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    4. Jackie, it was never as simple as that.

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  7. Didnt the Brit get a medal ?. I recall seeing him holding one up in a box?

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  8. I must say that in the TV interview he seemed a thoroughly nice sensible chap.

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    1. Either that or a complete cad. That's all we Brits boil down to.

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  9. That Brit looked hale and hearty enough that he could have taken down the guy by himself. Glad they all did what was needed.

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    1. Well they could have smashed his brains out, but maybe that would have been a step too far. If the Met empty a complete magazine into an innocent man's head on the London Underground, then maybe not?

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