Veteran's Day Story

It's unusual that I have a story about service men because I don't have any in my immediate or extended family (that I know of) but I wanted to share a story about my nephew's friend:

My nephew's friend had been stationed in Alaska for a few years and is married with two toddlers and another one on the way. This year he was stationed in California. They were traveling through Washington with all their belongs to get to California. They had just finished a short vacation in Canada. While they were driving they started hearing a clanging noise in the car. His wife asked him if he had changed the oil like she had asked him to do and he had not. So they pulled over and got the oil change and got back on their way. Unfortunately, the sound continued so they were forced to stop at a mechanics. The mechanics checked the car and told them that the problem was with the transmission and it would cost $4,000 to replace. His very pregnant wife burst into tears. Her being upset caused their two year old and four year to start crying as well. He tried to calm them all down as much as possible and while his wife was taking the children to the restroom he started making some calls. He tried to reach his parents but he wasn't able to get a hold of them. Then he panicked and started calling friends to see if he could borrow money. His wife returned with the kids and he continued to call people to see what could be done. He was sitting there, in his uniform, nearly on the brink of tears trying to figure out how he was going to get his family and all of their belongings to California when one of the mechanics came out and said "Someone who wants to remain unknown has paid for the repair and we will have it ready for you in a hour or so". And this made his wife burst in to tears again; she was so happy and thankful. He was shocked and awed. They were able to reach California and are now getting settled.

So there you have it, a really heartwarming story about a service men on Veteran's Day. It's also just a wonderful story about people being good to people and giving a helping hand to someone in need. I know it sounds a bit unbelievable and I went way schmaltzy on the telling of it but it's all true and quite lovely. Do you all have any stories about Veteran's day, service men or people helping people?