Spencer Stone Bio, Parents, Siblings, Height, Acting Career
Image source

Spencer Stone is best recognized for being a real-life hero. Together with a few of his childhood friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, Spencer was able to stop an armed man who was about to attack a train to Paris in August 2015. Stone’s action to prevent the attack made him an international hero, honored both by President Obama, who awarded him the Airman’s Medal and a Purple Heart, and by the French Francois Hollande, who honored him with the Legion of Honor, the highest French decoration of merit. Since then, many have become increasingly interested in what is going on in Spencer Stone’s professional and personal life, which we will discuss below.

Spencer Stone Bio

On August 13, 1992, Spencer Stone was born in a small town in Sacramento, California, the son of Brian and Joyce Stone. He grew up in Carmicheal, a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento. Stone was still a young boy when he met and befriended his two future co-heroes, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler. The boys, who share the same strong religious beliefs and a mentality of dedication to serving their nation, have since become inseparable.

The trio attended Freedom Christian School in Fair Oaks, California, while Stone was later to transfer to Del Campo High School, which is still located in Fair Oaks. In high school, Spencer Stones, whom his mother says he wanted to join the military from childhood, was very active and played on soccer and basketball teams.

ALSO READ: Albert Pujols Biography, Career Stats, Wife, Net Worth, Salary and Family Facts

His high school teacher and basketball coach, Dave Nobis, remembered after his fame that Spencer Stone took care of others in school and had a work ethic. Stone graduated from high school in 2012 and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force shortly thereafter. He served at Travis Air Force Base in California and was promoted to the rank of Senior Airman in 2015 thanks to his courageous actions during a mission in France.

In January 2015, Stone enrolled in the Airman Leadership School to learn the leadership skills of a non-commissioned officer. It was in August 2015, when he was on a European vacation trip with his best friends when the incident with the gunman occurred.

The men were on board a Thalys train 9364 from Amsterdam via Brussels to Paris when a 25-year-old Moroccan, Ayoub El-Khazzani, armed with an AKM assault rifle equipped with 270 rounds of ammunition, launched an attack on passengers. Several people made unsuccessful attempts to stop the man before Stone attacked and disarmed him. El-Khazzani stabbed Stone in the neck and eyebrow and almost cut off his thumb with a carpet knife. His friends intervened and the trio became national heroes. On the other hand, in May 2018, El-Khazzani was still in jail and awaiting trial.

It was later reported that Ayoub El-Khazzani had ties to ISIS, although he claimed that his attack was not connected to any terrorist group, but was a mere attempt to steal valuables from the passengers.

In addition to the medals that Stone received from both the American and French presidents, he was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant. In October of the same year, Stone faced another life-threatening incident when a California man, James Tran, stabbed him after a fight in a bar. Fortunately, he survived fatal injuries to his heart, lungs, and liver after open-heart surgery at the University of California’s Davis Medical Center.

Investigative reports revealed that Tran was unaware of Stone’s publicity at the time, so the attack was not a means of revenge for the attack he prevented on the Thalys train. Tran was brought in and was later to plead guilty, whereupon he was sentenced to 9 years in state prison on May 12, 2017.

Spencer Stone left the United States Air Force in November 2016 to focus on international relations. Stone intends to receive training in this area.

Acting Career

Spencer Stone’s fame as a hero also attracted Hollywood veteran filmmaker Clint Eastwood, to be exact. After his retirement from the Air Force, Stone and his friends made many public appearances, and together with the help of international journalist Jeffrey E. Stern, they wrote the incident involving the Thalys train in a memoir entitled The 15:17 to Paris. The book was published in August 2016.

About a year later, Eastwood began filming the book into a film of the same name in which both Stone and his friends played themselves. The film was released on February 9, 2018. It remains unlikely that Stone would continue to pursue a full-time acting career.

ALSO READ: Georges St Pierre Biography, Wife, Height, Age, Net Worth

Parents, Siblings

Spencer Stone was born to a father named Brian Stone and a mother named Joyce Eskel. Not much is known about his parents except that they are regular Americans living in Sacramento, California.

However, after the train accident, Spencer’s parents, like the parents of his friends, received some media attention. Stone’s father Brian told NBC news on the phone how he was not surprised that his son had the courage to launch the first attack on the gunman. The reason for this was that he had come to know his son as an agile person who, after his time in the military, was aiming for a career as a fireman or paramedic.

Spencer Stone has two siblings who are both older than him. These include a brother named Everett and a sister named Kelly. The Stones have a weakness for the police, as his brother Everett works as a patrolman on the California Highway Patrol in Redwood City, California.

Spencer Stone Height

Spencer Stone is a fairly tall young man standing 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 220 pounds. The international hero has blond hair.