U.S. National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos on Wednesday got to meet Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller, whose jersey he was wearing last week while helping subdue a heavily armed attacker
The 22-year-old Skarlatos, who had recently served in Afghanistan, was presented with a new jersey by Muller for his heroic deeds. He earlier had received the Legion d'Honneur medal from French President Francois Hollande.
A proud-looking Muller sent out these tweets to his fans.
Today we had a visit of #Thalys-hero Alek Skarlatos on the training ground of @FCBayernEN #esmuellert pic.twitter.com/VFaodnOCaM
- Thomas Müller (@esmuellert_) August 26, 2015
These are heros. And one of them wears my trikot. Great guys. http://t.co/o2Xz7Tpp4e
- Thomas Müller (@esmuellert_) August 24, 2015
Skarlatos and his longtime friends U.S. Airman Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler all took part in subduing the gunman as he moved through the Amsterdam-to-Paris train with an assault rifle strapped to his bare chest last week.
According to Sadler, the trio were initially sitting in a different carriage, but a bad Wi-Fi connection led them to get up and move to what became the scene of the attack.
"We often use the word hero, and in this case it is appropriate," U.S. ambassador to France Jane Hartley said of the three. "They are truly heroes."
Sadler, 23, said after the incident that he didn't think, but rather just reacted: "So it was either do something or die."