Alek Skarlatos Biography

Fast Facts

• Grew up in California before moving to Roseburg, Oregon in high school
• Enlisted in the Oregon Army National Guard after high school
• Completed his first tour of Afghanistan in June 2015
• Childhood friends with Spencer Stone, who was his next door neighbor, and Anthony Sadler, with whom he was vacationing in Europe at the time of Thalys train attack in France
• Along with Sadler and Stone, subdued gunman shortly after the attack began
• Skarlatos initiated the resistance against the gunman by shouting "Get him!" to his friends
• Awarded the Knights of the Legion of Honour by the president of France, François Hollande
• Joined Dancing with the Stars in season 21, partnered with Lindsay Arnold