Another group of wounded soldiers is brought to the 4077th, including a young soldier named Eddie who looks like he is straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Eddie gives Klinger a small pack for safekeeping and begs Klinger to send it back to his parents in the states if he doesn't survive. Complications arise when Eddie dies on the table. Afterwards Klinger approaches the surgeons and tells them that inside the pack Eddie was carrying was a huge amount of actual US cash - and not military scrip US forces are typically paid with.
A short time later Klinger helps a young Korean woman named Oksun Li by stopping her from prostituting herself to another solder. Oksun's mother Mrs. Li sees the two talking and misinterprets it as Klinger trying to buy sex from her daughter, prompting an angry reaction from the mother.
Meanwhile the surgeons are talking to some of the other soldiers in Eddie's unit and find they did not like him at all because he was a con-artist, thief, and general low-life. To their shock none of Eddie's fellow soldiers are particularly saddened over his death.
Potter and the surgeons debate what to do with Eddie's money. Hawkeye thinks the money should be sent back to Eddie's parents. Potter is concerned over what would happen if it turned out all of Eddie's money was obtained by criminal means. When they can't find any evidence Eddie obtained the money through criminal means Potter lets Hawkeye send the money back to Eddie's parents. However, another soldier who knew Eddie already told his parents about Eddie's activities and they send the money back to Hawkeye as they see it as unclean.
The surgeons decide to give the money to Mrs. Li and family which allows them to move out of the war zone and go live with Mrs. Li's sister.
Tropes appearing in "Private Finance":
- All for Nothing: Hawkeye tries to paint a positive picture of Eddie to his parents, but they were already aware of his activities in Korea thanks to another soldier in Eddie's unit.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Eddie, evidently. When Hawkeye describes Eddie's face as being "straight off a Norman Rockwell cover, BJ comments, "Maybe that was his cover."
- I Have No Son!: This is the gist of the letter Eddie's parents send back: they flatly state that the money "came from an Eddie we never knew."
- Innocent Bystander: The Li family are all caught in the middle of the war. Mrs. Li and Oksun both tell Margaret and Col. Potter how difficult their lives have been being caught in the middle and how much they want to get away to a safer part of Korea where the fighting is over.
- Mama Bear: After wrongly accusing him of propositioning Oksun, Mrs. Li attacks Klinger with an absolute fury.
- Personal Effects Reveal: Klinger has to go through Eddie's personal effects and is surprised to find just what he was carrying with him.
- Slowly Slipping Into Evil: Eddie's fellow soldiers said he started out as a decent guy but was corrupted during his time in Korea.
- Not What It Looks Like: A Korean mother doesn't take well to what she thinks is Klinger soliciting sex from her daughter.
- Unfriendly Fire: Two of Eddie's fellow soldiers imply Eddie might've been the victim of this when they found out he had died.Corporal Dolan: Oh, yeah? Who got him, their side or ours?
