Three Americans who thwarted a terrorist attack on a Paris train last month said Friday that they now have a clearer understanding of the events in the United States on 9/11.
"I feel so much more connected to terrorist attacks and things like that and victims of terrorist attacks," Alek Skarlatos, 22, a member of the U.S. National Guard from Roseburg, Ore., told Megyn Kelly on Fox News. "That easily could have been us, if any one of six or seven things went a different way."
Kelly also interviewed U.S. Airman First Class Spencer Stone, 23, and Anthony Sadler, also 23, a student from Pittsburg, Calif.
On Aug. 21, the three subdued Ayoub El Khazzani, a Moroccan with jihadist ties, who tried to carry out an attack on a high-speed train with about 500 passengers. He was carrying an automatic pistol, a box-cutter knife and an AK-47 assault rifle.
A British consultant, Chris Norman, 62, also helped stop the attack aboard the train, which had about 550 passengers. Stone suffered a knife wound in the incident.
The four heroes were honored by the French government and local officials in Sacramento. They also received a call from President Barack Obama.
The Americans were about 8 years old on 9/11, according to Kelly.
"I visited the 9/11 memorial a week ago," Sadler said. "That was my first time in New York, first time at the memorial."
"This was about less than a week after our ordeal happened," he said. "It gave me a whole new perspective. I was just appreciative of the names on the stones. That could easily have been us, just as easy."
Stone said that his takeaway from the incident was to "always be aware of your surroundings."
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