The Landing

Trapper John Xavier McIntyre squinted in the scorching sunshine of dusty Ouijongbu. Nothing had changed since his departure from that wretched spot a little more than a year ago. Today he stepped from the helicopter that landed on the edge of the village and surveyed the scene.

Flea-bitten mongrels lounged lazily in the sand; half-naked children played with cardboard boxes, bits of old lumber and worn out tires - probably from the 4077th.

Giving the chopper pilot a final wave and heaving his duffle bag across his broad shoulder, he pondered the last time he had seen this place. He had been on his way home - the day the left Korea forever or so he had thought. But now, here he stood. Again.

He wiped the sweat from his tanned forehead and looked down the road toward the 4077th, wondering when the jeep would appear to take him to his duty station. How many times had he and Hawkeye bounced down this road? Most of the time they were returning to camp after a wild night at the local gin mill. Thankfully, those kinds of adventures were behind him. The horrendous year he had been through had taken a lot out of him.

Hawkeye! That name brought a grin to Trapper's handsome face. His friend, his soul mate! He wanted to hug him, to squeeze the life out of him and Klinger and Kelly and Igor and Father Mulcahy. Today, even Frank Burns would be a welcome sight. A slight grimace passed over his face for with the thought of Frank Burns, the beautiful face of Margaret Houlihan presented itself. The thought of her set up an uneasy longing in his heart; he forced it from his mind.

There was a new CO at the 4077th; he had heard wonderful things about Sherman Potter. From his friends' letters he knew the Old Colonel was revered and loved as much as Henry Blake had been. He would miss Henry; they had been so close. The entire unit under his command had been family.

Family! The word shot an ache through his entire body and left a severe stabbing pain in his heart. The wife and two daughters that he had been so eager to return home to last year were gone, killed in a car crash as Louise had picked up Cathy and Becky from school. In a matter of seconds, a drunken driver had taken their lives and destroyed his. Their deaths sent him into a tailspin of depression and into an alcoholic fog.

For more than six months, he moved about in a dark valley of despair and grief until one day a letter arrived from Father Mulcahy. It contained encouraging, life-giving words from the heart of that good man and urged him to "look up" as he put it. Finally, Trapper came to himself, sold the house, stored the furnishings, found his friendly Army recruiter and enlisted. By pulling a few strings, he had managed to get himself assigned to his old unit --his other "home" and "family" that he, this minute, longed to see with all his heart.

The sound of an army jeep broke into his thoughts and he looked up to see Max Klinger bearing down on him in a cloud of thick white dust.

Before the jeep came to a full stop, Klinger shouted, "Captain! You're a sight for sore eyes!" and, holding on to his latest straw hat creation, bounded from the vehicle to embrace Trapper.

"Same here!" Trapper cried, hugging him back. When the men had broken their embrace and stood back to look at each other, Trapper said,"I never thought I'd be so happy to see such an ugly mug"

"Right back at ya, sir," said Klinger."Now, let's go home to the 4077!"

Bouncing along the road, hitting every pot hole, Klinger filled Trapper in on the new CO. "You're going to love him. Oh, he's regular army, all right, but he never lets that get in his way. The 4077 loves him as much as we loved Henry Blake."

A moment of silence fell between them, each recalling that terrible day in OR when Radar broke the news of Henry's death.

Klinger concentrated hard on the road ahead and said, in a breaking voice, "And Captain, we are all so sorry about your family. It must hurt like hell."

"Yes, it hurts, but I have to move on with my life. I dwelled on it so long and so bitterly that it was tearing me apart. I just couldn't face walking into that house another day. I had to re-enlist to keep my sanity. Geez! I never thought I'd hear myself say that!" he admitted. "Anyway,I sold the house, resigned as Head of Pediatric Surgery at Boston Mercy just to get away from the memories. I figured Korea is just about as far away from there as I could get."

After a few minutes of silence, he said, "Now, tell me about everyone at the Four-O-Double Natural."

Klinger gladly filled him in on everything: Hawkeye's usual pranks, Frank Burns going nuts after Margaret's dumping him and his subsequent transfer stateside, Radar's leaving. Igor's continuing attempts at cooking, Sherman Potter's wise and witty sayings and about BJ Hunnicutt, the surgeon who had arrived after Trapper's departure.

Trapper cleared his throat, trying not to be too obvious, "Say, Klinger," he began,"What about Major Houlihan?"

"Oh, well, sir, you wouldn't believe it. She finally got rid of Major Burns and then married a Major Donald Penobscott."

Trapper's heart flipped over inside. With difficulty, he tried to hide his disappointment. "Married?' he managed to say,keeping his tone even and non-committal. "Margaret's married?"

"It didn't last long," Max said. "Major Penobscott cheated on her and she divorced him, She went through a pretty rotten time of it, but she's on the mend now and seems to be doing well. It has certainly made her a kinder, gentler soul if I do say so. I know it makes my life a heck of a lot more bearable."

Trapper pondered what Max had just told him. The thought of anyone hurting Margaret Houlihan made his blood boil. If he could get his hands on that slob he would happily tear him limb from limb.

Just then, the jeep topped the rise of the hill and the M*A*S*H 4077th sprawled below, dozing in the sunlight. It was just as he had left it: the rambling OR facility, the sagging tents, dust everywhere, the flag pole, the signs pointing home and there it was, The Swamp!

"I never thought I would be so happy to see this god forsaken place, " Trapper smiled. "Hurry, Klinger!"