Sometimes You Hear the Bullet
| "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" | |
|---|---|
| M*A*S*H episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 17 (17th overall) |
| Directed by | William Wiard |
| Written by | Carl Kleinschmitt |
| Production code | J318 |
| Original air date | January 28, 1973 |
| Recurring/Guest appearances | |
"Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" is episode #17 of the first season of the TV series M*A*S*H, originally airing on January 28, 1973. This is the first episode in which the medical staff failed to save a wounded soldier, and one of the first episodes of the series showing a member of the hospital staff truly affected by death.
Writer Carl Kleinschmitt was nominated for a Writers Guild Award for this episode.
Frank Burns throws his back out while dancing with Hot Lips in her tent. While recuperating in Post-Op, he puts himself in for the Purple Heart. Margaret justifies it by claiming that since the injury was sustained at a front-line unit (due a "slip in the mud on the way to the shower"), technically that makes it battle-connected.
Hawkeye's old friend Tommy Gillis (James T. Callahan) appears at the 4077th. A reporter in civilian life, he is a combat soldier working on a book about life on the front lines called "You Never Hear the Bullet." The book is intended to show how death in battle can be sudden and not surrounded by any prior drama, as it often is in the movies. Tommy leaves for his unit just as wounded arrive at the compound. A young Marine with appendicitis (played by Ron Howard best known for The Andy Griffith Show & later Happy Days) has a dangerous reaction to a blood transfusion because his dog tags show the wrong blood type. Hawkeye discovers that the Marine is in fact underage, having used his older brother's ID to enlist and go to Korea to impress his girlfriend. Hawkeye gives the Marine some sage advice about women, but ultimately lets him decide for himself whether he wants to go back to the States or stay in Korea.
Later in the episode, Tommy himself shows up as a casualty on the operating table, having been shot by the enemy on the front lines. Just before being anesthetized, he weakly tells Hawkeye that he in fact had heard a bullet just before being hit, just like in the movies. Hawkeye, close to tears, suggests that "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" is a better title anyway, and tries frantically to save Tommy's life. Unfortunately, Tommy dies on the table and Henry Blake orders Hawkeye to move away and help Trapper.
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