History TearJerker / MASH

** Then there's Charles, who rarely opens up (Hawkeye: “Charles, you never told me anything like this before.” Charles: “Actually, [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious Hawkeye]]... I’ve never told you anything before.”):

** Hawkeye has running trauma with NeverGotToSayGoodbye throughout the series, but in this episode he talks about his mom was dying when he was ten, and his dad kept making him fancier breakfasts: a bowl of cereal when she first became unwell, and bacon and eggs when she was hospitalized, but he kept downplaying the seriousness of her condition each time. By the time he was making French Toast, she was gone. Also a tearjerker on Father Pierce’s side, his wife was dying and it’s only been a few years since his son nearly drowned, fair enough that he treats Hawkeye a little fragile.

* "Follies of the Living – Concerns of the Dead" is one long {{Tearjerker}}, which is from the perspective of a dead GI named Weston whose spirit lingers for a few hours, only seen by Klinger (because he's sick). The final kicker is during TheStinger, when Klinger asks what happened to Weston. There is also an AllAreEqualInDeath moment in which Weston, other American [=GIs=], North Korean soldiers, and civilians GoIntoTheLight together.

* In "Hey Look Me Over", Nurse Kellye, sitting up with a patient who is terminal, comforts him by indulging his belief that she is his girlfriend back home, and in his dying moments they plan a picnic date and talk about the plans they had for a life together.
* A private in the episode "Trick Or Treatment" won't eat, and the story behind it can make you ache for the poor guy. After a hellish assault by Chinese troops against his unit, their commanding officer gets an early Thanksgiving dinner sent down, and the guy ate and went back for seconds...only for his friends, who stayed in their foxhole and were still eating, to get killed in an artillery burst. His sobbing as he talks about how surprised they all looked, and how he would have been dead too if he hadn't been such a pig, makes it hard to listen to, and is a drastic shift from the light-hearted ghost stories being told in the OR.

* "Give And Take" features a wounded private who is literally in the next bed to the critically injured soldier that he shot because the man tried to steal his boots because his own feet were freezing. When the man dies, the private is visibly shaken, and at the end of the episode Potter tries to comfort him.

* "Follies of the Living – Concerns of the Dead" is one long {{Tearjerker}}, which is from the perspective of a dead GI named Weston whose spirit lingers for a few hours, only seen by Klinger (because he's sick). The final kicker is during TheStinger, when Klinger asks what happened to Weston. There is also an AllAreEqualInDeath in which Weston, other American [=GIs=], North Korean soldiers, and civilians GoIntoTheLight.

-->'''Dead GI''': Hey. Over here. Come on, it's this way. ''(points to an endless road all the souls of those who died that day are walking down)''\\
'''Weston''': ''(plaintively)'' Where do we go?\\
'''Dead GI''': Down there. Come on. ''(they start walking down the road themselves)''\\

* Margaret acts out in “Comrade In Arms”, but she’s just got more proof that Donald is routinely cheating on her, and she tries so hard to pretend that she’s in love with Hawkeye because he’s nice and there.
* In “The Smell Of Music”, between the slapstick EscalatingWar of Winchester and Hawkeye/B.J., is a B plot about a soldier whose rifle backfired in his own face and Potter trying to stop him from trying to commit suicide. Eventually reverse psychology happens, Potter helping him commit suicide as he’s screwed up everything else, and the guy finally wants to live.

* Hawkeye crying after failing to save the soldier in “The Best Of Enemies”. He essentially curls in on himself and waits to be shot, with the strong implication that [[DrivenToSuicide he thinks he deserves it.]] There's also no indication that he told the others about his traumatic experience, and Charles/B.J. think he just had a wild time in Tokyo.
** The North Korean soldier not going through with his threat of executing Hawkeye, instead deciding to bury the fallen soldier together.

* "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead" is one long {{Tearjerker}}, which is from the perspective of a dead GI named Weston whose spirit lingers for a few hours, only seen by Klinger (because he's sick). The final kicker is during TheStinger, when Klinger asks what happened to Weston. There is also an AllAreEqualInDeath in which Weston, other American [=GIs=], North Korean soldiers, and civilians GoIntoTheLight.
-->'''Dead GI''': Come on, it's this way. ''(points to an endless road all the souls of those who died that day are walking down)''\\
'''Weston''': ''(plaintively)'' What is?\\
'''Dead GI''': No one knows, but it's THIS WAY!

** In TheTag, Hawkeye, B.J. and Potter return to the Swamp and find Radar's beloved teddy bear lying on Hawkeye's cot -- indicating that Radar has [[ComingOfAge left not only the 4077th, but his childhood behind forever]]. And to reflect the mood, the snippet of the theme that accompanies the usual freeze-frame ending is not cheery and upbeat, but very sad and forlorn.

* Radar's departure at the end of "Good-Bye, Radar", as he has to say his rushed and confused farewells to the others when a load of wounded comes pouring in just as they're planning to get his going-away party underway. In particular, the scene where Hawkeye -- who has to go to the O.R. before being able to say anything -- glances up while operating, sees Radar peering through the window, shoots him an agonized look, and then fires him a salute.

* Radar's departure at the end of "Good-Bye, Radar", as he has to say his rushed and confused farewells to the others as a load of wounded comes pouring in just as they're planning to get his going-away party underway. In particular, the scene where Hawkeye -- who has to go to the O.R. before being able to say anything -- glances up while operating, sees Radar peering through the window, shoots him an agonized look, and then fires him a salute.

* Radar's departure at the end of "Good Bye, Radar", as he has to say his rushed and confused farewells to the others as a load of wounded comes pouring in just as they're planning to get his going-away party underway. In particular, the scene where Hawkeye -- who has to go to the O.R. before being able to say anything -- glances up while operating, sees Radar peering through the window, shoots him an agonized look, and then fires him a salute.

* The main plot of "Heal Thyself", in which a front-line doctor replacing the incapacitated Potter and Winchester breaks down due to all the wounded. [[https://www.mash4077tv.com/images/misc/spotlight/186_heal_thyself.jpg Just the helpless look he gives Dr. Pierce and that soft, unassuming voice]]: "[[OutDamnedSpot The blood won't come off]]..." It gets worse when B.J. mentions that Newsome (the surgeon in question) was "as strong as any of us," easily engaging in the off-the-cuff humor that Pierce and Hunnicutt always shared -- especially under duress. Then Pierce points out that that's what scares him: the fact that any of them could easily end up in that same spot once they hit their breaking point...

-->'''Dead GI''': Come on, it's this way (points to an endless road all the souls of those who died that day are walking down)".
'''Weston''': (plaintively)"What is?"
'''Dead GI''': "No one knows, but it's THIS WAY!"

--->'''Hawkeye''': Oh my God! ''[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Oh my God]]''! [[WhamLine It was a baby!]] ''She smothered her own baby!'' ...[[PrecisionFStrike You son of a bitch]], why did you make me remember that?

* "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead" is one long {{Tearjerker}}, which is from the perspective of a dead GI named Weston only Klinger can see (because he's sick). The final kicker is during TheStinger, when Klinger asks what happened to Weston. There is also an AllAreEqualInDeath in which Weston, other American [=GIs=], North Korean soldiers, and civilians GoIntoTheLight.

** A semi-meta example, when David Ogden Stiers passed away, Loretta Swit released a statement recalling when he joined the cast. He was apparently very private, and she would plead with him (albeit in a playful manner) that he couldn't do that. It ended up becoming banter between the two, as she would note "What if I wanted to invite you to a party? I don't even have your phone number." Which he would always counter with a witty remark. Skip ahead to "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" when their characters are saying goodbye to each other. Charles hands Margaret a book of poems as a farewell gift, when she opens it up, Loretta genuinely tears up. David wrote down his phone number in the book.
*** Watch the scene closely: Charles...or rather, ''David''...turns to a specific page in the book.
** And now, the ultimate meta example: it was all for nothing. Korea was permanently partitioned, Every death -- soldier and civilian -- was in vain. Also imagine if any of the characters lived to see the 90s. Kim Jong-Il succeeds his father. Global news and the budding internet bring the horrors of his regime to the world. Col. Potter could've felt WWII was vindicated by Germany and Japan becoming democratic allies on the world stage. No such luck for South Korea, with the shadow of the North (and China) always looming.

[[folder:Seasons 1-3]]

[[folder:Seasons 4-7]]

[[folder:Seasons 8-11]]

** Henry's goodbye hug to Radar: "You behave yourself, or I'm gonna come back here and kick your butt." As a viewer, you're still drying your eyes from that when the final O.R. scene begins. Made all the better when you know that Radar saluting Henry was ad-libbed by Gary Burghoff, whereas Henry embracing Radar was ad-libbed by Creator/McLeanStevenson (who later said of that moment, "You can't write emotion").

* "[[GrandFinale Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen]]" - Forget a kleenex, you're going to need an IV for the dehydration from crying.

** Even before the reveal, Hawkeye’s had every coping method of his beaten down and so instead of the funny flirty SadClown persona, he acts like a caged animal in the asylum and when his friends call (being very careful with him and treating him like he’s five year old, the thing he was afraid of happening in “Hawk’s Nightmare”), alienates all of them within minutes. Even after he’s back in camp, he’s still fast to make everyone uncomfortable.

* Another one that's bad on its own but even worse in hindsight is Henry's call to his family in "Henry In Love", where he tells his son that he has to be the man of the house, just until he gets back from Korea. [[McLeaned Poor kid...]]

** Henry's goodbye hug to Radar: "You behave yourself, or I'm gonna come back here and kick your butt." As a viewer, you're still drying your eyes from that when the final O.R. scene begins. Made all the better when you know that Radar saluting Henry was ad-libbed by Gary Burghoff, whereas Henry embracing Radar was ad-libbed by [=McLean=] Stevenson (who later said of that moment, "You can't write emotion").

** The ''absolutely poleaxed'' look on Radar's face when he comes into the room, by itself, is enough to have audiences cringing, mentally pleading for him ''not'' to recite the halting line above.
** Particularly shocking as he was [[{{Retirony}} on his way home]] - and more so again when you remember that his son was born while he was in Korea and they never got to see one another.

* Trapper, at the end of the "Kim" episode. A little boy who is believed to be a war orphan is treated at and taken care of by the camp. Trapper begins to bond with the boy and ultimately decides to adopt him. After a major scare where the boy wanders into a minefield and is brought out safely, the boy's mother arrives and is reunited with him, leaving Trapper heartbroken.

-->'''Hawkeye''': someday you’ll have to go back home and die in your bed in Bloomington.

-->'''PA announcer''': Nobody’s succeeding us. At all.

* "There Is Nothing Like a Nurse" - Even ''Frank's'' home movie is a tearjerker. The movie is that of his wedding to Louise and it's sad at just how pathetic it looks: there are hardly any guests (and a lot of empty chairs), Frank's boutonniere won't stay in place, he gets a fly strip ''stuck to his face'' while cutting the cake, nobody besides him looks happy (and even his smiles seem forced due to how much fail is going into the wedding), and, to top it off, his wife emasculates him by refusing to let him drive the honeymoon car. You may not feel sorry for Frank often, but when you do, you see just how bad his life really is.

** In the same episode, Henry's goodbye hug to Radar: "You behave yourself, or I'm gonna come back here and kick your butt." As a viewer, you're still drying your eyes from that when the final O.R. scene begins. Made all the better when you know that Radar saluting Henry was ad-libbed by Gary Burghoff, whereas Henry embracing Radar was ad-libbed by [=McLean=] Stevenson (who later said of that moment, "You can't write emotion").

** Margaret's letter comes from a kid who got to know the staff of a hospital he had to stay at (tonsillectomy). He asks the letter's recipient if they ever really get to know the patients as well. Margaret has a flashback to a patient who was in really good spirits and talking about things back home. She finds out that the soldier's liver is gone. This is on top of knowing the man has a severed spine and lying to him about why he has no feeling in his legs. After Hawkeye and [=B.J.=] tell her he probably only has a matter of hours left, Margaret returns to the soldier's bedside and continues to talk with him as if nothing's happening. Margaret's final words seals just how much it affected her.

* "[[Recap/MashS8E18OldSoldiers Old Soldiers]]" was designed to flush out tear ducts, and it does the job well. It's very hard to listen to a tough old man crying and not join in.

* Potter's storyline in "Old Soldiers", culminating in his toast to his buddies who have passed on at the end of the episode. Perhaps the most striking thing is the sight of ''Winchester'' moved to tears.

* Hawkeye crying after failing to save the soldier in “The Best Of Enemies”. He essentially curls in on himself and waits to be shot, with the strong implication that he thinks he deserves it. There's also no indication that he told the others about his traumatic experience, and Charles/B.J. think he just had a wild time in Tokyo.

** Radar sounding close to tears when he talks about how he’s friends with the South Koreans, but MASH has barely enough for themselves sometimes, and he wishes the people back home could be told about having to look the kids in the face and having to tell them they can’t help.

** Based on real stories, Mulcahy details how the doctors will warm themselves over the open wound of their patient, and asks how anyone could look at that and not feel changed.