Semper fi between vet and his ‘angel’

A 71-year-old Vietnamera Marine Corps veteran recently sent a letter and two Guardian Angel coins to the state police barracks in Andover to thank the big-hearted trooper who helped him when his vehicle broke down on the side of the highway.

Police said the elderly man, whose name was not revealed, was driving south on Interstate 93 about a month ago, when a tire problem forced him to pull over.

“I was scared and had not much cell service left on my phone,” the man wrote in his letter. “I called my road service and was having hard times with them. Then God sent an Angel, Tpr. Steven Hanafin, to my rescue ... He protected me and after a while even talked to my road service company and told them I was in a bad area and he hoped they could come soon.”

It was while they were waiting that the man said he learned Hanafin was a fellow Marine.

“The Trooper saw my plate and thanked me for my service, and said ‘Semper Fi.’ Then I found out he was in the U.S. Marine Corps also,” the man wrote.

“So there you are: God sent me an Angel, and a former Marine. Amazing. God works in mysterious ways.”

After the tire was repaired, the man said Hanafin called for help again when he realized the man’s car battery was dead.

“Now, after I got going, he followed me until I got on the road home,” the man wrote. “And ... he took my number and called me at my house to make sure I got home safe.”

Along with the letter, the man sent two Guardian Angel coins, one for the trooper and one for the troop major.