By Elsie Leonard

BN Intern

Law enforcement has been a part of Harry Hansen’s whole life. 

Within his adventures, he found the nickname ‘Handsome Harry’ and stories to tell that seem so unreal it’s like reading an adventure novel. The love for law enforcement has been ingrained in Harry Hansen since age 11. Decades of loyalty and hard work didn’t go unrecognized when he was given the State Trooper cane at 92 years old. 

At 11, Harry wore his first badge as a School Safety Boardcrossing guard. Harry directed traffic at Read Street and Forest Avenue in Portland.Harry has lived in Maine 85 years, and has endured experiences that have generated enough stories to tell for a lifetime. 

As World War II started, a new law stated that everything must be in complete blackout so enemy airplanes couldn’t spot towns from above. Harry’s job of traffic guarding upgraded to Junior Air Raid Warden, which meant it was his task to ensure the city had no lights showing from house windows or car headlights. 

“I would see one house a night that I would have to knock on their door and ask the owners to block out their kitchen lights,” he said.

In addition to Junior Air Raid Warden, Harry was also a Junior Fire Warden for the streets of Portland. Every night as he patrolled Portland, Harry pulled a heavy oak wagon his father made him. In the wagon held a broom, a pump and a water tank. If there was ever any problem, Harry was on it.

 “This was my part in WWII,” Harry said. 

In his junior year of high school, there was the massive fire of 1947. It closed schools, burnt through the town of Brownfield, and caused destruction all the way to the coast. 

“My buddy and I had a big dump truck with a water pump in the back, but no tank to hold the water. On the way to the fire, we spotted an old rusty water tank, and filled it with the water we had. That night, we saved a farmhouse from burning, and in return we slept in the barn. It was the coldest night of my life,” he said. 

As 1949 came along, Harry turned 18 years old. He decided to join the Army Air Force (AAF)and from there he was sent to Texas for training, and eventually Tinker Field, Oklahoma, where he joined Fort Gordon military police school. 

“I was on AWOL (absent without leave) apprehension looking for deserters in unmarked cars and civilian clothes. Once we found our deserters, we took them back to base by plane. I flew on everything, bombers, cargo. One prisoner and I were in the nose of a B-26 with plexiglass surrounding us and the weapons. On this trip back, we had to have a forced landing due to an engine blowing. Coming down with this plane… my God was it scary. I remember thinking to myself, ‘We are screwed.’ The co-pilot came back and warned us we would be landing in a field of clovers, but as we got closer to the ground we realized it was a cornfield. ‘You boys ready to jump?’ the co-pilot said to me and the prisoner. I almost died hearing that. I would rather stay on the plane than jump off! Once the rough landing was over, after the crash, the corn farmer ran out in the field, and all I remember was him asking, ‘You fellas alright?’ He helped us out of the corn field, and the next day trailers came rolling in, loaded the plane parts onto the low beds and rolled it all away,” he shared.Many years later, in 1956, Harry was transferred to Troop B in Scarborough. He stayed with Troop