NS Slug: FRANCE: TRAIN HEROES HONORED-CHRIS NORMAN (DEPARTURE, REMARKS) Synopsis: French President Francois Hollande gives France's highest award to train heroes who fought attacker Video Shows: Chris Norman leaves Elysee Palace after receiving Legion of Honor Keywords: FRANCE TRAIN TERROR ANTHONY SADLER SPENCER STONE ALEK SKARLATOS CHRIS NORMAN AYOUB EL KHAZZANI
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NS Slug: FRANCE: TRAIN HEROES HONORED-CHRIS NORMAN (DEPARTURE, REMARKS) Synopsis: French President Francois Hollande gives France's highest award to train heroes who fought attacker Video Shows: Chris Norman leaves Elysee Palace after receiving Legion of Honor Keywords: FRANCE TRAIN TERROR ANTHONY SADLER SPENCER STONE ALEK SKARLATOS CHRIS NORMAN AYOUB EL KHAZZANI
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From the left, British businessman Chris Norman, Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento University in California, French President Francois Hollande, U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, and Alek Skarlatos a U.S. National Guardsman from Roseburg, Oregon pose at the Elysee Palace, Monday Aug.24, 2015 in Paris, France. Hollande pinned the Legion of Honor medal on U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their years-long 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, also jumped into the fray. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)
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Off-duty US Air Force Spencer Stone (L), one of the men to overpower the gunman who opened fire with an assault rifle on a high-speed train, gestures as he leaves the hospital of Lesquin, northern France on August 22. On August 21, a gunman opened fire on the train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, injuring two people before being tackled by several passengers including off-duty American servicemen. Spencer Stone was first to the gunman who slashed him in the neck and almost sliced off his thumb with a box-cutter.
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An undated photo released by a social network shows the 25-year-old Moroccan suspect in Friday's shooting, named as Ayoub El-Khazzani, who was overpowered by two US servicemen and other passengers before he could kill anyone during an attack aboard an Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train on August 21, 2015. He lived in (southern) Spain in Algeciras for a year, until 2014, then he decided to move to France. Once in France he went to Syria, then returned to France, according to a Spanish anti-terror source.
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An undated photo released by a social network shows the 25-year-old Moroccan suspect in Friday's shooting, named as Ayoub El-Khazzani, who was overpowered by two US servicemen and other passengers before he could kill anyone during an attack aboard an Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train on August 21, 2015. He lived in (southern) Spain in Algeciras for a year, until 2014, then he decided to move to France. Once in France he went to Syria, then returned to France, according to a Spanish anti-terror source.
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An undated photo released by a social network shows the 25-year-old Moroccan suspect in Friday's shooting, named as Ayoub El-Khazzani, who was overpowered by two US servicemen and other passengers before he could kill anyone during an attack aboard an Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train on August 21, 2015. He lived in (southern) Spain in Algeciras for a year, until 2014, then he decided to move to France. Once in France he went to Syria, then returned to France, according to a Spanish anti-terror source.
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From the left, British businessman Chris Norman, Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento University in California, French President Francois Hollande, U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, and Alek Skarlatos a U.S. National Guardsman from Roseburg, Oregon pose at the Elysee Palace, Monday Aug.24, 2015 in Paris, France. Hollande pinned the Legion of Honor medal on U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their years-long 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, also jumped into the fray. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)
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From left, Alek Skarlatos, U.S. Airman First Class Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler aboard the Paris-bound train in France just hours before they foilied an attack by a shirtless man wielding a Kalashnikov aboard a high-speed Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, August 21.
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The high-speed train was zipping from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday when a shirtless man emerged from the bathroom -- a rifle slung over his shoulder, witnesses said. A French passenger and three Americans -- a civilian, an Air Force member and a National Guard member -- jumped into action. They quickly tackled him, possibly averting a massacre aboard the train. The suspect bound after being subdued in this frame grab.
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In this photo provided by Christina Cathleen Coons, a person lies on the floor after an incident on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. A gunman opened fire on the train wounding several people before American passengers subdued him, according to officials and one of the Americans involved. (Christina Cathleen Coon via AP)
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From left: Anthony Sadler, from Pittsburg, California, Alek Skarlatos from Roseburg, Oregon, and British national Chris Norman -- who is living in France -- hold medals they received for stopping a gunman on a European train.
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From left, Alek Skarlatos, U.S. Airman First Class Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler aboard the Paris-bound train in France just hours before they foilied an attack by a shirtless man wielding a Kalashnikov aboard a high-speed Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, August 21.
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Story highlights

Chris Norman: "If you're going to die, try to do something about it"

Three Americans, Briton awarded French Legion of Honor for their actions

CNN  — 

A British man who helped subdue an apparent would-be attacker on a train in France said Tuesday that he preferred to die trying over sitting and waiting for a near-certain death.

“My position was, I’m not going to be the guy who dies sitting down,” Chris Norman told CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday. “If you’re going to die, try to do something about it.”

Norman was among four people, including three Americans, who overpowered a man armed with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle Friday on a train from Amsterdam to Paris. Their actions are thought to have saved many lives.

The gunman has been identified by police as Ayoub El Khazzani, a 25-year-old Moroccan now charged by French authorities with attempted murder, attempted mass murder and membership in a terrorist organization.

For their actions, the four men who subdued El Khazzani were awarded the French Legion of Honor on Monday.

A fifth man, French-American Mark Moogalian, who tried to take away the gunman’s rifle before the other four got involved, will receive his own Legion of Honor when he recovers from his injuries.

Norman said that, at the award ceremony, he and French President Francois Hollande had a conversation in which they discussed the importance of everyone participating in the fight against terrorism.

Police cannot be everywhere, Norman said.

“I think as citizens, we need to really move forward and we need to take some of the responsibility for it,” he said, referring to the battle against terrorism. “Whether it is simply being more vigilant or by preparing yourself for action if ever you do find yourself in that situation.

“I’m not an expert in the area but I do think we need to figure out how to harness the power of the citizens,” he said.

Norman told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that he and the others who subdued the apparent would-be attacker, though they had never met, acted as a team during the take-down.

He has had a chance since Sunday to talk with the others – Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, three American friends on vacation in Europe – about those critical events.

“I think we’ve got a pretty strong bond,” he said.