
Members of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital care for the injured during the Korean War and use humor to escape from the horror and depression of the situation. Among the 4077's people are Capts. Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce and "Trapper John" McIntire, Majs. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan and Frank Burns, and Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly.

Hawkeye records a letter to his father detailing his day in the OR with a mad Turk, a missing corpse and a gun-happy officer.

While a search goes on for a dog that bit Radar, Hawkeye defies Frank to take care of a case of hysterical paralysis.

Radar helps out a lamb meant for a Greek festival; Frank is cheated out of an opportunity to persecute a young soldier.

Frank is driven by his jealousy of Trapper into proposing to Hot Lips.