The Horror at Home

From the St. Petersburg Times:

TRINITY — The call came at 1:28 p.m. Friday, the caller ID cryptically reading, "U.S. Government — Honolulu."

Larry Dalla Betta, just getting home from a youth football game, answered in the kitchen.

"Is this Larry?" an operator asked. Dalla Betta said yes. Then he heard another voice, speaking from half a world away, sudden, strained:

"Dad, I've been hit. I've lost both my legs."

"Where are you?" Dalla Betta asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Afghanistan," his son said. "I can't talk. They're taking me to Germany. I can contact you in 24 hours."

Dalla Betta began to talk. The line went dead.

He screamed. "Justin! Justin!" He started to cry. Justin's siblings Larry Jr., 11, and Nicole, 5, started to cry, too.

Via Susie Madrak at Crooks and Liars.