
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.

When Frank threatens to leave, Hawkeye and Trapper find it means double duty for them and invent a way to make him stay.

News spreads throughout the camp that a cease-fire is imminent.

While an entertainer does a show from an improvised stage in the compound, the comedy and drama of the doctors' lives go on.

The personnel of the 4077th try to make a good impression on a psychiatrist when threatened with reassignment.