Horrible Experience Please Read If Your a Mom

My soldier son was already in a tour of Afghanistan and now is with a unit in Germany that is deploying to Iraq. He had this two week window to come home before the deployment. Soldiers pay for their own trips even when stationed overseas. As a side note they get paid the same even though the american dollar is so weak so they live on about 65% of their regular pay. (please bear with me for being lengthy I am very upset) I booked for him through expedia which I always use and the flight was through Lufthansa airlines.He was very unfamiliar with traveling to the airport, which involves a train and bus all in german and at a cost of around $200.00. He kept trying to ask people but nobody appeared to speak english. In the end he made it to the airport before the flight left but too late to make the flight. Lufthansa would do nothing for him, they would not put him on standby for the next flight, they would not give him a change of use fee to put him on another flight, they would not refund his money, they would not even give him a credit toward another flight. They straight out told him he lost his money and nothing, nothing would be done for him at all. (flight had cost $900.00) They grudgingly offered to allow him on a flight the next morning for a cost of $1400.00, however, they would not take a payment from us over the phone, he had to pay for it himself at the counter. This was impossible as he did not have that type of cash and they are 7 hours ahead and it was after 5pm on Saturday for us, so all banks were closed and we could not get funds into his account. We called Expedia and they tried to negotiate on our behalf and lufthansa again too bad so sad. My hubby called and was so kind and calm trying to convey to Lufthansa the situation and that he was stranded there in Germany and this was the only shot he had to come home before deployment. yet again, this was Lufthansa policy and they would not do one thing to help him out, and if he could not pay at the counter they suggested we go pay through their website. The website quotes a price of $1800.00 for the next morning flight. My son had no cell phone, its now after midnight in Germany and he basically is sleeping at the airport. I was beside myself, I have been pretty ill recently and seeing him was extremely important to me not to mention giving him some downtime before all the intense training begins to see his friends and other family. We totally understood and expected to pay some type of fee, but $1400.00? In the end we booked a flight on US AIR for $1200.00. We really did not have it and are scrambling to get bills paid another way via listing stuff on craigs list etc, and on paper this was not the intelligent thing to do, but as a parent getting my child home before going to war was all that mattered to me. When we spoke with US Air they were shocked at Lufthansa doing nothing, They advised that as a general rule the first thing is to get them on standby at no charge, the very worst generally is to do the change of use fee for another flight which is $50.00 to maybe $200.00. We have tried to reach supervisors at the airlines and have gotten nowhere. Our son is home now and for that we are grateful. We are about to start a letter writing campaign as we don't know what else to do to get Lufthansa to understand that part of running a business is to act in a humane fashion for everyone, but beyond that to go out of their way to NOT help an American soldier is totally unacceptable. I am sorry for making this so very long, but wanted to pass on to you ladies about this airline.