Two U.S. servicemen, an American college student and a Briton were awarded with France's highest honor on Monday for thwarting a suspected terrorist from carrying out a possible massacre aboard a Paris-bound train last week.

French President François Hollande presented the American heroes -- Airman First Class Spencer Stone, Oregon National Guard Specialist Alek Skarlatos and Sacramento State University student Anthony Sadler -- with the Legion of Honor for their role in stopping a gunman identified as Ayoub El Khazzani on a high-speed train traveling to Paris from Amsterdam on Friday. A British man named Chris Norman also received the award.

"One need only know that Ayoub El Khazzani was in possession of 300 rounds of ammunition and firearms to understand what we narrowly avoided, a tragedy, a massacre," Hollande said at the ceremony, referring to the suspect, who has denied the accusations while speaking to police, reports the New York Times.

"Your heroism must be an example for many and a source of inspiration," Hollande added. "Faced with the evil of terrorism, there is a good, that of humanity. You are the incarnation of that."

The incident occurred on Friday at 5:45 p.m., local time, near Arras, France, when El Khazzan allegedly began firing gunshots aboard the train. Witnesses say that Stone quickly rushed the suspect and pushed him against the restroom. Meanwhile, Skarlatos managed to snatch away two of his firearms. The suspect, however, took out a box-cutter and slashed Stone several times. That's when Skarlatos and Sadler, along with Norman, held him down until authorities could arrest him.

Officials say that El Khazzani is a 26-year-old Moroccan national who had already been flagged by Spanish authorities and has been linked to radical Islamist networks, according to CNN.

Later on Monday, it was revealed a French-American named Mark Moogalian, 51 also played a significant role in curtailing the attack. According to his wife, Moogalian tried to wrestle a rifle from the shooter and was shot in the neck, reports CNN. He is currently hospitalized in stable condition. He is also slated to receive the Legion of Honor.