Heroes Thwart a Train Attack, Yet Europe Remains Vulnerable

The four men -- three American and one British -- who received France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor, on Monday from President François Hollande richly deserved it. Their courage in tackling an attacker wielding an AK-47 and other weaponry inside a packed high-speed train traveling from Brussels to Paris last Friday prevented a possible blood bath.

Yet along with gratitude and relief there was, in France and in Europe generally, a deep sense of vulnerability -- the realization that in an open society where citizens enjoy freedom of movement, people cannot rely on the lucky presence of tourists.