A Message for Frank Burns
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't own M*A*S*H*! Also, there is a portion of the story that was actually in the episodeAbyssinia, Henry and I did not write the line of dialogue from that episode
It had been one day since Colonel Henry Blake had left the M*A*S*H 4077 to return home. Everyone at the 4077 missed Henry, but for the most part, things had continued as normal (or at least as normal as can be for this particular M*A*S*H unit). Frank Burns was left as the commanding officer, but he hadn't had time to exercise his power because he, Hawkeye, and Trapper were stuck in a long operating session in the OR. Meanwhile, Corporal O'Riley was busy working in the office as usual. He missed Henry Blake more than anyone else, but he understood the importance of keeping the 4077 running as smooth as possible in Colonel Blake's absence. He was also enjoying the time he had alone in the office before Major Burns came in and started to take command (which everyone knew would be a disaster). That is why when the phone rang, Radar answered in a somewhat cheerful voice.
"M*A*S*H 4077, Corporal O'Riley speaking."
At the other end of the phone, Radar heard a deep, gruff voice. The voice hesitated for a second, but then continued.
"Yes, I need to speak to your commanding officer, a Major Frank Burns." the voice replied.
"Actually, Major Burns is operating in OR right now." Rader replied quickly.
"I see. How long until the Major is finished?"
"I'm not sure." Radar answered truthfully. "We had a whole bunch of casualties come in, and we are short a surgeon because our previous commanding officer was discharged and left for home yesterday. Can I take a message for Major Burns?"
"Well…I need the news to get to Major Burns ASAP. This isn't the kind of news I would usually deliver to a Corporal. But in these circumstances, I don't think I have any other choice. Can I trust you to deliver the message to Major Burns in confidence as quickly as possible?"
"Of course you can, sir." Radar replied, somewhat appalled at the fact that the person on the phone didn't seem to trust him with the message. "After all, as company clerk, I deliver messages all the time, and I know plenty of things that I probably shouldn't know as a Corporal." As soon as he said this, he wondered if these were the right words to say to army brass.
"I see." the voice answered, clearly concerned about Radar's statement. Despite that, however, he decided to tell Radar the news. "You see, this is about your previous commanding officer, Colonel Henry Blake. The plane he was flying home in…well, it was shot down over the Sea of Japan."
"Oh my gosh!" Radar exclaimed. "Is Colonel Blake ok? Is he being shipped back here?"
"Unfortunately, no." the man on the other end of the phone answered sympathetically. "We've determined that there were no survivors in the plane."
"You mean…Colonel Blake is dead?" Radar asked in a quiet voice filled with dread and shock.
"I'm afraid so." the man replied. There was an awkward silence for about a minute while Radar took the shock of what had happened in, but eventually the man kept talking. "We are so sorry for the 4077's loss. Nobody likes to hear about a hero dying, especially one that was heading home to be with his family. I don't know how Blake led your M*A*S*H unit, but whatever he did, it was a success. Both he and the 4077 have been instrumental in saving many lives over here in Korea. We'll be notifying his family immediately, but we knew the 4077 staff should know about the incident first. I know this must be a big shock to you, but if you could, please get the message to Major Burns as soon as possible. Also let him know that we will be sending another colonel to lead your M*A*S*H unit, because despite Burn's stellar record, we aren't sure if he will be successful as a leader."
However, Radar heard none of this. He simply replied by telling him "Thank you, I'll give Major Burns the message," in a sad and monotone voice and hung up the phone. He then placed his head in his hands and groaned, thinking the only obvious thought that could come to his mind.
Henry Blake was dead.
The real question was, what was he going to do now?
"I can't just tell Major Burns." Radar muttered to himself. "He won't know how to break the news to everyone. He'll mess it up like he does everything else. Besides, Colonel Blake deserves a better send off than Major Burns can give." He then looked at the door that led to the OR, and with tears in his eyes, he realized what he was going to have to do; he was going to have to deliver the news to everyone in there himself. After all, what better time to tell everyone than when they were all together in surgery? Plus, he knew that he couldn't keep the news to himself any longer. He then got up and slowly walked into OR, his eyes blurry with tears and his whole body shaking.
When he entered OR, he could hear and see the typical hustle and bustle of surgery. The three surgeons were working on patients, and nurses were around helping wherever they were needed. Someone told Radar to put a mask on, but he ignored them.
"I have a message." he said slowly. He gripped the nearest counter for support, because he felt like he was about to fall over from shock. He thought to himself "I can't do this. But I have to. Colonel Blake is counting on me." He continued as he looked down at the counter. "Lieutenant Colonel...Henry Blake's plane...was shot down...over the Sea of Japan. It spun in...there were no survivors."
He then left the room. His body was still shaking, and as he entered the office again, he sat down in his bed and started to cry. He held his teddy bear in his arms, which was the only thing that brought comfort to him. Meanwhile, back in OR, everyone had stopped what they were doing and the room had grown completely silent. Major Burns and Major Houlihan were both quietly crying. Trapper had a shocked expression on his face, and Hawkeye was clearly holding back tears. After a couple of minutes, everything resumed, but not as it had been before; this time, it was as if a dark cloud of grief hovered over the whole room.
"Trapper, can you finish for me?" Hawkeye asked quietly.
"Sure." he answered with a distracted look on his face as he continued to work on their patient. Hawkeye, meanwhile, headed over to the office and found Radar sitting quietly in his bed, tears streaming down his face.
"Radar…" Hawkeye said slowly as he sat down on the bed next to him, unsure of what to say.
"Oh." Radar said as he quickly turned away to hide his tears and started to wipe his glasses. "Sorry, sir. I shouldn't be crying."
"What do you mean, you shouldn't be crying?" Hawkeye said with a shocked voice. "Of course you should be crying. This is a tragedy, Radar. One of the greatest men in this war finally gets the opportunity to go home, and he gets killed in transit!" He paused for a second, and then, in a calmer voice, continued. "Radar, we are all crying with you, but this is going to hit you the worst. At least we got to hear it from you. You had to hear it from some army brass, and then had to deliver the news to us. And none of us were as close to Henry as your were.
"Well I was supposed to just tell Major Burns..." Radar said slowly, "but I didn't want him to mess up delivering the news to the rest of you."
"Oh, I can picture it now." Hawkeye said with a small smile. "Henry Blake is dead, and I'm in charge. Everyone do 30 laps around the camp." he said, clearly mocking Frank Burns in an attempt to cheer Radar up a bit. Radar gave a small smile, but it was still clear how upset he was, so Hawkeye stood up and said, "Come here, Radar."
As Radar came and gave Hawkeye a hug, he started to talk as tears continued to stream down his face. "You know, Hawkeye," he said quietly, "this is like when my Dad died, because Colonel Blake was kind of like my dad. But in some ways, it's almost worse, because it's happening right now. It's so vivid in my mind, and I don't think I'll ever be able to get it out."
Hawkeye stood there, unsure of what to say to Radar. Finally, after a minute, Hawkeye responded.
"Why not you get out of the office for right now, Radar? I don't want you to be alone right now with everything that's happened. You can stay in surgery with me until we're done…we only have a few patients left. Then you, Trapper, and I can all head back to the Swamp. After what happened today, I think we could all use a drink."
"Ok, Hawkeye." Radar answered with a sniff as he wiped his eyes. The two of them headed back into surgery, unsure about how they and the rest of the people at the 4077 would be able to handle the grief that would follow this horrible tragedy.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed reading this story (I know I enjoyed writing it, even though it made me want to cry). I thought of the idea while watching a season 7 clip episode that happened to have clips from the episode Abyssinia, Henry. Just a reminder, the scene in the OR was originally from the episode Abyssinia, Henry: although the description of that scene is my own writing, I didn't invent the scene (and I didn't write the spoken dialogue that takes place in OR). What was my original idea is what happened before/after he enters OR (and Radar's during the scene in OR). Please comment with any praises or criticisms, and favorite if you would like to read more of my work