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2015 train hero earns a new title: graduate

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento-area man credited with helping prevent an armed attack on a French train is celebrating his college graduation -- a year late, owing to all the attention that followed the 2015 train crisis.

The Sacramento Bee reported family and friends were there to cheer 24-year-old Anthony Sadler at Saturday's graduation at Sacramento State.

In August 2015, Sadler was one of three Northern California men who helped tackle a gunman they saw moving through a Paris-bound train. France awarded the three the Legion of Honor, and Sacramento welcomed their return with a parade. Clint Eastwood is now directing a film based on the episode. Sadler himself took time off from his studies for a speaking tour.

The new graduate says the months since the train incident "feel like 10 lifetimes."

President Obama poses for pictures with Spencer Stone, 2nd left, Anthony Sadler, right, and Alek Skarlatos, left, the three men who subdued a gunman on a Paris-bound train in August, at the Oval Office at the White House in Washington Sept. 17, 2015.
President Obama poses for pictures with Spencer Stone, 2nd left, Anthony Sadler, right, and Alek Skarlatos, left, the three men who subdued a gunman on a Paris-bound train in August, at the Oval Office at the White House in Washington Sept. 17, 2015. Reuters
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