Frank McShane is an Allied pilot whose plane went down over Togo Jima after being shot at by Japanese anti-aircraft guns. His body was not found, so the army declared him 'missing in action.' Despite this, the McShane family is hopeful that their son will come back home. Frank McShane's friend, who is coincidentally also named Frank, goes to the McShane house to try and give them some closure; he witnessed the disintegration of the plane with his own eyes and knows there is no way that Frank McShane could have survived. Mrs. McShane welcomes Lieutenant Frank into her house, introducing her children to him. She takes special care to inform him that her missing son Frank always treated the youngest daughter Emily as his favourite, and that she in turn was looking forward to the return of the brother she barely remembered. They discuss the event many times. Lieutenant Frank tries to tell Mrs. McShane that it is unlikely that her son Frank survived, but she stubbornly hangs on to the hope that God preserved him because he was a good Catholic boy. When Mr. McShane comes home, he does not ask as many questions as his wife does, but he loyally defends her impossible hopes when they are questioned by Harry, the only McShane boy who does not think God will intervene to save his brother. Mrs. McShane reveals that Emily asserts her brother will come back with a strange confidence that is impossible to ignore. Her tone implies that she wants him to lend credibility to these notions, which he is reluctant to do. Lieutenant Frank slowly understands that she will not listen to anything except what she wants to hear, so he politely takes his leave. At the door, Mrs. McShane hugs him tightly, calling for 'Frank' to come home soon; Lieutenant Frank knows inwardly that she is referring to her lost boy and not him.