The Creightons were proud of their son Frank. When he went to college, naturally they missed him; but he wrote and they looked forward to his letters and they saw him on weekends. Then Frank was drafted into the army. 

After he had been in the army about five months, he received his call to go to Vietnam. Of course the parent's anxiety for his first letter was greater than before. And every week they heard from him and were thankful for his well-being. Then one week went by without a letter -- two weeks -- and finally three. At the end of the third week a telegram came saying, "We regret to inform you that your son has been missing for three weeks and is presumed to have been killed in action while fighting for his country."

The parents were shocked and grieved. They tried to accept the situation and go on living; but it was tragically lonesome without Frank. About three weeks later, however, the phone rang. When Mrs. Creighton answered it, a voice on the other end said, "Mother, it's Frank. They found me, and I'm going to be all right. I'm in the United States and I'm coming home soon." 

Mrs. Creighton was overjoyed. With tears running down her cheeks she sobbed. "Oh, that's wonderful. That's just wonderful, Frank." There was silence for a moment and then Frank said, "Mother I want to ask you something that is important to me. While I've been here I've met a lot of wonderful people and I've really become close friends with some. There is this one fellow I would like to bring home with me to meet you and Dad, and I would like to know if it would be all right if he could stay and live with us because he has no place to go. 

His mother assured him it would be all right. 

Then Frank said, "You see, he wasn't as lucky as some; he was injured in battle. He was hit by a blast and his face is all disfigured. He lost his leg and his right hand is missing. So you see, he feels uneasy about how others will accept him."  

Frank's mother stopped to think a minute. She began to wonder how things would work out and what people in town would think of someone like that. She said, "Sure Frank, you bring him home -- for a visit, that is. We would love to meet him and have him stay for a while; but about his staying with us permanently, well, we'll have to think about that." There was silence for a minute and then Frank said, "OK, Mother" and hung up. 

A week went by without any word from Frank and then a telegram arrived -- "We regret to inform you that your son has taken his life. We would like you to come and identify the body." 

Their wonderful son was gone. The horror stricken parents could only ask themselves, "Why had he done this?" 

When they walked into the room to identify the body of their son, they found a young man with a disfigured face, one leg missing, and his right hand gone.