NEW YORK -- It's been an up-and-down several months for Staff Sgt. Spencer Stone.
In August, Stone was instrumental in helping to thwart an attempted terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train. In October, he was stabbed multiple times after an altercation outside a nightclub in California. Three weeks later, he was promoted from airman 1st class to senior airman to staff sergeant in a three-minute ceremony.
And on Wednesday, he was honored here during the 54th USO Armed Forces Gala and Gold Medal in Washington as one of five service members to receive the George Van Cleave Military Leadership Award.
The award allows the USO to publicly honor and thank the commitment, service and achievements of service members who have shown extraordinary dedication to their country.
Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, helped present the award.
Stone reiterated that he did what anyone would have done aboard the train.
Also honored were:
-- Army Sgt. Rachael Nicol, 307th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Aiborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Nicol helped medically evacuate a fellow soldier amid enemy fire after their convoy was ambushed in Afghanistan.
-- Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Zachary Rubart, Marine Security Force, White House Communications Agency, Washington, D.C. Rubart sprang to action and helped ensure everyone's safety during the 2013 Navy Yard shooting in Washington, D.C.
-- Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Timothy Bleigh, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Bleigh was in Afghanistan in 2011 when his Humvee was hit with an improvised explosive device. Despite his own injuries, he aided everyone around him.
-- Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician Second Class Darren Harrity, Coast Guard Sector North Bend, Oregon. Harrity swam a mile to rescue four fishermen, one at a time, after their boat ran aground.
