AfterMASH (1983) s01e10 Episode Script
Fallout
1
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021 Ma'am, maybe some tea.
White bread soaked in hot milk.
I'm going backwards.
I'll be in diapers soon.
I'll change them for you.
I'll remember that.
Is it a patient?
Want to talk about him?
It's no one him.
It's all of them.
At a MASH outfit, you'd stuff a kid's insides
back where they belonged and ship them right out.
There was no follow-up.
At the VA, it's all follow-up.
Paraplegia, quadriplegia.
One amputee said he got that way from too
much I-pledge-a-legia.
You didn't make them what they are,
Sherm.
My old professor, Dr. Mezek, used to say,
we don't give the patients their illness, son.
You can't get that involved.
He was so uninvolved, you could drive a
sports car through his ulcer.
What's really incurable is the hospital.
I've never been in a place buried so deep
in bureaucratic cowplop.
Why?
Why?
Ants have colonies, armies.
They build, they farm, they fetch, they
carry thousands and thousands of them.
And all of that activity, all the
organization, without one single piece of
carbon paper, without one committee meeting,
and not one ant wearing a three-piece suit.
What's this leading up to, dear?
Alligators.
Florida.
I want to see them wiggling around in
their pre-wallet condition.
I want to take a fish's temperature with a
fat worm on a hook.
Everything you want to do is so slimy.
I want to take you to the beach.
I want to lie by your side in the sand.
I want to kiss you while I've still got a
ghost of a pucker left.
When can we leave?
The thought of my retiring doesn't trouble
you?
You're not worried about having a cranky
old man on your hands?
I've managed this long, haven't I?
Anesthetist on duty to OR.
Anesthetist on duty to OR.
You just sign these here forms right here,
sir.
Take it easy, Klinger.
My farina hasn't settled yet.
Where does the blue line lead besides up
his leg?
To the yellow one.
That's where we keep the munchkins.
Sir, you're doing surgery
this morning, and Alma Cox,
star of stage screen and
Venom, wants these first thing.
Alma sucks eggs.
By the dozen.
Good morning, Colonel.
That remains to be seen.
As long as you're signing,
I'm collecting your signature
daily for the monthly reports
so they don't pile up weekly.
Here, here, and here.
Here.
It's out of ink.
Does that mean I can go home now?
You just got here.
What better reason to leave?
Don't forget these, Colonel.
Thank you, nurse.
See you, sir.
Maybe.
Morning, Sarge.
Oh, morning, Bob.
Therapy's taking a bunch of us out on the
river later.
Gonna do some fishing.
Any chance of you coming along?
Oh, afraid not, Bob.
I'll catch one for you.
A big one.
Hopefully don't pull me out of the boat.
Ah, Colonel Potter.
Perfect.
Morning, Mike.
Colonel, I'd like you to meet Leon
Grissom.
And his friends Seymour Brown and Dickie
Spalding.
Did I get that right, boys?
No, sir.
Leon here's Father's congressman,
Gronech, of the 5th District, whose double
hernia we had the singular privilege of
correcting.
I'm afraid your father's groin was before
my time.
Should have brought your autograph books,
boys.
Colonel Potter's a three-war man.
He was in Korea, WWI, and Ditto II.
You're looking at a genuine hero.
The bravest thing I ever did in the Army
was show up for meals.
If you're looking for real heroes,
the wards are full of them.
That's just what I'm doing, Colonel,
showing these future Dr. Kildare's around.
Maybe we can lunch it up later.
Uh, lunchtime I have to be in two
different places at the same time.
That I can usually do.
Getting to three is a little harder.
Boys, Mike.
Okay, fellas, what say we hop over to the
limb shop?
Good morning, sir.
Dr. Pfeiffer.
Have you seen this issue of the medical
journal?
When you're in a hospital, the last thing
you've got time for is medicine.
There's a tremendous article in here on
the use of vein grafts to repair arterial
lesions on acute traumatic injuries of the
thigh.
How old are you, Pfeiffer?
I wish I was 27 and 6 foot 4 again.
Sir, have you got a minute?
I had a minute last month.
I put it down somewhere.
I'll be damned if someone didn't walk off
with it.
I kind of need to talk.
Time for OR, sir.
Right.
My Lebanese alarm.
I'm glad we can talk in there.
Yes, sir.
It's really kind of important.
VSW representative, please contact
admitting.
Will the VSW representative please contact
admitting.
When do you expect the happy event?
Next month, Father.
You have others, Mrs. Warner?
Two girls.
This will be our first boy.
Never can tell.
I think my own parents were hoping for a
girl, hence my name, Francis.
I suppose had I been a she instead of me,
I'd become a nun.
In which case, my folks would have had a
sister for a daughter instead of a father for a son.
I appreciate you giving me your time,
Father.
Are you comfortable?
He's going in for a test.
He's been feeling something awful.
They don't know what it is.
In case anything goes wrong in there,
you want to forgive me now?
I'll do my part.
God will do the forgiving.
That's his profession.
Thank you, Father.
You ready, Doctor?
All set.
Try not to act as though the patient is an
eight-course meal.
This is better.
Look alive, nurse.
Residents have a tendency to cut into
anything that doesn't move.
Yes, Colonel.
All right.
Next marks the spot.
Just at the iliac crest.
Just at the iliac crest.
Knife, number 10 blade.
Number 10 blade.
Right this way, boys.
It's me, Colonel, Mike D'Angelo.
Bet you thought it was a stick-up, huh?
Hold it.
We're not interrupting, are we?
You in the middle of anybody?
You sure you want these boys to observe
this?
I was told it's nothing too gooey.
Dr. Pfeiffer is about to perform an open
bone marrow biopsy.
This patient's blood count has shown some
abnormalities.
Yesterday, we took a sample of blood cells from
his chest, but we couldn't get enough of them to test.
So now we're going to make a small
incision in his hip, take out some marrow,
send it to the lab, so that we might more
accurately diagnose his problem.
Sir?
Yes, we are.
How will you get down to the marrow?
We use a small mallet and a chisel to chip
away at the bone.
Sir, about that minute you're going to
give me, would now be a good time?
I'm here.
Grab it while you can.
Well, what it comes down to is it's about
maybe leaving.
Leaving the hospital?
Yes, sir.
Is it D'Angelo?
Say the word.
Say the word and I'll perform a horse's
ass-ectomy on him and you can hold the reins.
Oh, that's not it.
Do you know Dr. Brill in River Bend?
Jerry Brill?
Went to med school together.
Good man.
Timing's not too hot.
He proposed to Mildred ten minutes after I
did.
Well, this is from him.
Oh?
$20,000 a year to start.
$20,000.
You know what would be nice?
A steak.
A big steak.
A three-bedroom steak.
A steak you could just move in and eat
your way out of.
A person could do an awful lot with
$20,000.
What about travel?
All that coming and going to the bank just
so you could look at the money?
I gather you've thought this all through.
Well, not much to think about.
Dr. Brill's got tired hands, so I would do his
night calls and share the office load until he retires.
Then he'd turn over his entire practice,
all his equipment, furniture, and all the.
National Geographic's for the tops of the
naked ladies torn out.
You know, if you don't finish three years
of general surgical residency,
you won't be board certified.
I know.
You might be making ten times the money
you're making here at the VA, but some
people will never feel that you're really
fully qualified.
Colonel, are you trying to talk me out of
it?
I guess you could say that.
Well, it's too late.
I've already done that myself.
I don't get it.
I'm staying.
The experience here is invaluable in terms
of practice.
I mean, it's sad, but it's true.
Wars really advance the cause of medicine.
Morticians love them, too.
And then there's you, sir.
Speaking of morticians, working with you
is a tremendous learning experience.
I'd be happy to become half the doctor you
are.
I hope that doesn't embarrass you.
Only half as much as you think it does.
When you get a compliment every 20 years
or so, they're not too hard to take.
Thank you, doctor.
Thank you, doctor.
Pass me the glue.
Dope.
I'm doing the best I can.
The glue is called dope.
Oh, imagine that.
Father, seen Dr. Pfeiffer?
Behind that screen, I believe.
Dr. Pfeiffer?
Just a sec.
You've got to cooperate, sir.
Do your best.
Nobody likes to use a bedpan, especially
if you're afraid of heights.
I took a lab report on Warner,
the bone marrow biopsy.
You're not going to like it.
Neither is he.
Damn.
Leukemia.
I may be kind of tell me that my head is
high Because I am not to get up to kiss a
guy But if I ever get up to take it off my
eyes I do that one for Johnny Smith And he
is very happy with the lady In the truth, he proves
he has proof In the truth, he proves he has proof.
Boy, that lady would make a great dessert.
Going to the polls with enthusiasm,
the populace of our sister republic,
the Philippine Islands overwhelmingly selects
Raymond Magsaysay to be their next president.
And he's friendly to the U.S.
2,100 troops from many different units advance
to within 3,000 feet of a point beneath the blast.
Nearer than any other unprotected humans, with the
exception of the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
History in the making.
Watch closely for its fleeting moment.
Man, that's really something.
You can't really tell in black and white.
First there's this real bright light,
and then there's like a shockwave.
Then the fireball, every color you ever
saw.
And then finally the mushroom.
Can't believe how beautiful it is.
You been at one of these tests?
I've been at six of them.
All on Enuitak.
Except for getting a mouthful of dust,
it's really something to tell your kids about.
Behold, the grim visage of future war.
How do you know who to send Christmas
cards to?
Well, there's the people you love.
My grandma.
My grandma.
And there's friends that you miss.
How about new friends?
Sure, that's especially nice.
I have someone I want to send a Christmas
card to.
Okay.
Okay.
This Christmas, the people you love would
love to hear from you.
Don't forget them.
Give Hallmark Christmas cards when you
care enough to send the very best.
Dr. Pfeiffer to Mr. Klinger's office, please.
Dr. Pfeiffer to Mr. Klinger.
Excuse me.
Don't send for any shovels.
I'm just resting.
I know, sir.
Colonel Potter's not in his office right
now.
He's in a meeting with the committee on
committees, which is meeting all this week
to see if they can cut down on a number of
meetings.
Tom?
More?
A ton.
I'll certainly have him return your call
the minute he gets a second.
Tremendous.
You're a genius.
How'd you get all this?
Personality.
I spread it over people like a tent, which,
incidentally, my forefathers were famous makers of.
Oh, from Washington, from the,
what do you call it, the tumor registry.
It would be the lumpy one.
Is that other stuff I got useful?
Terrific.
Second Marine Division, 6th Regiment,
assigned to duty in Nagasaki, September 23rd, 1945.
Patients stayed in area three months,
participating in cleanup detail,
picking up the pieces.
How do you glue a city back together
again?
In October 1945, that's two
months after the bomb dropped,
metal beams uncovered in
wreckage were still hot to the touch.
My God, the amount of radiation they must
have ingested.
To ingest being the act of what?
Inhaling, swallowing the radioactive
water, the dust.
And they kept this guy stationed there for
three months.
You were never in the service,
were you, Doc?
I was too young.
No one's old enough.
You go where they tell you, you do what
they say.
They say jump, you jump.
Sometimes if a shell lands close enough,
you jump on your own.
You don't like it, too bad.
It's not like you can quit and join the
army across the street.
The whole idea is to teach you to take
orders without thinking, without asking.
So if they tell you, you'll get into a
fistfight with a tank.
You must have loved it.
Love it?
Are you kidding?
I wanted to get out the minute I got in.
In basic training, I wet my bunk every
night for a week.
Didn't work for me, but the guy below me
got out for pneumonia.
And then, and don't let this get around,
to get a Section 8, I used to wear dresses.
Brassieres, garter belts, the whole thing.
I don't believe it.
They didn't either, except for one captain
who wanted me to have his baby.
Perfect.
I'll bring this stuff back.
Hello?
Garter belts, huh?
Never with sportswear.
Colonel Potter's office.
I've spoken with Dr. Pfeiffer, Joe.
He told me what your tests show.
I want you to know you're going to get the
finest care possible.
Actually, there's really no need to be
worried.
The army has taken all of the necessary precautions
to make sure that we're perfectly safe here.
Have you ever been out on a test shot,
sir?
Have I what?
I've had many opportunities to see a
number of atomic tests.
I feel that as a chaplain, it's my
responsibility to be with my men.
What's it like?
First, one sees a very, very bright light,
followed by a shock wave.
And then you hear the sound of the blast, and
then it seems as though there was a minor earthquake.
And then you look up and see the fireball
as it ascends up into the heavens.
It contains all of the colors of the
rainbow.
And as it rises up into the atmosphere,
it turns a beautiful pale yellow.
And then it assembles into a mushroom.
It's a wonderful sight to behold.
Liar.
What's that?
You all lied.
And now I'm gonna die.
Just for doing what I was told.
Why is that, Father?
Why?
This report is unacceptable, Colonel
Potter.
It is unacceptable, unadmissible,
and definitely unappreciated.
Dear God, are we gonna start talking in
triplicate around here?
You've seen Dr. Pfeiffer's comments
on this patient, uh Joe Warner.
Wait a minute.
Joe Warner.
I've seen them, yes.
It's Pfeiffer's opinion
that Warner's leukemia is
service-connected due to his
presence in so many A-bomb tests.
If that were the case, Warner would
eventually be entitled to 100% disability
as his condition, which I see here is terminal,
gradually worsens to his ultimate demise.
Which death would entitle him to 110%,
I imagine.
I'm serious about this.
So am I.
You're talking about nickels and dimes.
This poor bastard is being eaten alive by
cancer.
What's all the frustration?
You think this patient is faking leukemia?
You think he's sneaking in at night and
erasing the bone marrow from his x-rays?
I want the man to get everything he's got
coming.
But service-connected?
That's another can of worms.
If Warner contracted leukemia during the
service, it would have been in his record.
A bullet lets you know it's there a lot
faster than cancer, Mike.
The VA could be plagued with cases like
this.
Vets claiming disability merely because
they were at test sites.
Well, who else is supposed to deal with
it?
Sherm, you know as well as I do,
people were getting leukemia, anemia,
bohemia, for all I know, long before these
tests began going off.
The U.S.
Treasury starts handing out money on this
basis.
On this basis, we'll unleash the
floodgates.
Fair's fair.
We can't turn the atomic bomb into a free
lunch.
Nicely put.
At any rate, there's just no basis for it.
Government studies have definitely proved
that there's only a very, very,
very, very tiny amount of low-level
radiation in weapons testing.
Pfeiffer quotes a study that says no
exposure to radiation is so small that it
doesn't carry some corresponding
mutational risks.
If that's so, he feels
The Warner's unborn baby might even be
affected.
God almighty, Sherm, we've got enough
problems with this case.
Don't hit me with a fetus.
Who prepared this study?
A group of scientists.
And they're saying the government's lying?
Not at all.
They simply have a different opinion.
Scientists have opinions.
The government has facts.
Which are based on the opinions of
scientists.
Not these scientists.
These are the sob sisters and sore losers who
didn't want us to have the A-bomb or the H-bomb.
And now there's one parked in
every garage in the Kremlin.
These are the vinegar pusses who are
ticked off because they can't get a
government Grant to sit in their ivory towers and
study the effects of moonbeams on Guinea pigs in heat.
You're making a mockery out of an honest
disagreement.
Colonel, this I believe.
No American soldier would
ever be exposed to deadly risk
without being fully informed
of the dangers involved.
I feel that as strongly as I do the exact
opposite.
That the objectives of an unfettered military must
take preference over the rights of any individual.
Even if it kills him?
If that's what's best for him.
That is, in terms of the country for which
he stood.
Florida must be lovely this time of year.
You can't wear every case like a shroud,
Colonel.
Warner will get everything he's got coming
to him.
Despite our critics and all the sharpshooters,
believe me, the VA knows what it's doing.
Dr. Pfeiffer, report to Colonel Potter's
office, please.
Someone calling my name in vain?
My office.
I should have been home half an hour ago.
One of us is very unhappy so far.
Come on, give me a hint.
Is it animal, vegetable, or resident?
D'Angelo's overriding my recommendation.
There is not enough data either way.
It'll take years.
Warner hasn't got years.
You didn't give him this illness, son.
He doesn't need a doctor.
He needs a lawyer.
She finally left me for her first love.
He's been on the ground for ten years,
but at least he's never late.
Forget about a lawyer.
The law says a lawyer can accept only ten
dollars for representing a vet before the VA.
A ten dollar lawyer couldn't have gotten Adolf
Hitler off for double parking in downtown Berlin.
So Warner's dead even before he's dead.
A jillion dollar lawyer couldn't help him.
There is no way to challenge a VA decision
in a court of law.
Does the U.S.
government know about the VA?
Do we have relations?
Do we exchange ambassadors?
Sorry, Gene.
Right now I'm on another duty.
I'll see you in the morning.
I'm not so sure.
Pardon me?
I don't know.
Dr. Brill's offer is starting to look
better and better to me.
Oh?
What is the point in doing your best and
losing like this?
Since when did doing your best mean
winning?
Who the hell wins all the time?
If everyone was a winner, who'd ever learn
to be a good sport?
I want to be able to make a difference.
You want a good steak.
That's what you want.
And a flock of chicken pox and measles for
a change.
And maybe the occasional glimpse of pink
undies instead of ratty old skivvies.
You want to make a difference?
Stay here and help Joe Warner.
That young man's miseries have just
started.
If you believe in your findings,
there are going to be more and more Joe.
Warners, and they'll all be knocking on
the VA door.
You're not going to be much help to them
on the 18th hole somewhere.
Harry Truman says, if you can't stand the
heat, get out of the kitchen.
For whatever it's worth, I'm in the
kitchen beside you all the way.
Yes, sir.
Knock, knock.
Oh, Mildred, I'm ready.
This will save us time getting over to the
calendar.
Good evening, Mrs. Potter.
Good evening, Dr. Pfeiffer.
I was really loaded up today.
Truth is, I'm I'm not even finished yet.
Well, you can come back after dinner if
you like.
Oh, that'd be a big help.
This'll be the third night this week he's
put in at the hospital.
He must like it.
You wouldn't think so.
All he ever talks about is quitting here.
Oh?
Something wrong, young man?
Oh, no, no.
It's just that you look a little silly.
That's better.
Don't go away.
We'll be right back.
Bob?
Finally going home, Sarge?
Yep.
What are you doing up so late?
Day or night, it's pretty much the same
around here.
You feeling all right?
Oh, not in 35 years.
If I ever started feeling good,
it'd scare the hell out of me.
Okay?
Damn mustard gas.
Thank God soldiers today don't have to
breathe in anything that'll eat their insides out.
Yeah, thank God.
Like the new lines they painted?
Supposed to be a help.
Yeah, only now I can't find a way back to
my room.
Good night, sir.
Tuesday, a woman is dead, her former
lover's accused.
You had blood and scratches on your face.
And when Ben uncovers the truth,
the real killer vows to murder him.
On the Mississippi.
Now stay tuned as a winter snowstorm has
Stephanie stranded and logging time in a
cabin with Larry, Daryl, and Daryl on New
Heart.
Next.
Next.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021 Ma'am, maybe some tea.
White bread soaked in hot milk.
I'm going backwards.
I'll be in diapers soon.
I'll change them for you.
I'll remember that.
Is it a patient?
Want to talk about him?
It's no one him.
It's all of them.
At a MASH outfit, you'd stuff a kid's insides
back where they belonged and ship them right out.
There was no follow-up.
At the VA, it's all follow-up.
Paraplegia, quadriplegia.
One amputee said he got that way from too
much I-pledge-a-legia.
You didn't make them what they are,
Sherm.
My old professor, Dr. Mezek, used to say,
we don't give the patients their illness, son.
You can't get that involved.
He was so uninvolved, you could drive a
sports car through his ulcer.
What's really incurable is the hospital.
I've never been in a place buried so deep
in bureaucratic cowplop.
Why?
Why?
Ants have colonies, armies.
They build, they farm, they fetch, they
carry thousands and thousands of them.
And all of that activity, all the
organization, without one single piece of
carbon paper, without one committee meeting,
and not one ant wearing a three-piece suit.
What's this leading up to, dear?
Alligators.
Florida.
I want to see them wiggling around in
their pre-wallet condition.
I want to take a fish's temperature with a
fat worm on a hook.
Everything you want to do is so slimy.
I want to take you to the beach.
I want to lie by your side in the sand.
I want to kiss you while I've still got a
ghost of a pucker left.
When can we leave?
The thought of my retiring doesn't trouble
you?
You're not worried about having a cranky
old man on your hands?
I've managed this long, haven't I?
Anesthetist on duty to OR.
Anesthetist on duty to OR.
You just sign these here forms right here,
sir.
Take it easy, Klinger.
My farina hasn't settled yet.
Where does the blue line lead besides up
his leg?
To the yellow one.
That's where we keep the munchkins.
Sir, you're doing surgery
this morning, and Alma Cox,
star of stage screen and
Venom, wants these first thing.
Alma sucks eggs.
By the dozen.
Good morning, Colonel.
That remains to be seen.
As long as you're signing,
I'm collecting your signature
daily for the monthly reports
so they don't pile up weekly.
Here, here, and here.
Here.
It's out of ink.
Does that mean I can go home now?
You just got here.
What better reason to leave?
Don't forget these, Colonel.
Thank you, nurse.
See you, sir.
Maybe.
Morning, Sarge.
Oh, morning, Bob.
Therapy's taking a bunch of us out on the
river later.
Gonna do some fishing.
Any chance of you coming along?
Oh, afraid not, Bob.
I'll catch one for you.
A big one.
Hopefully don't pull me out of the boat.
Ah, Colonel Potter.
Perfect.
Morning, Mike.
Colonel, I'd like you to meet Leon
Grissom.
And his friends Seymour Brown and Dickie
Spalding.
Did I get that right, boys?
No, sir.
Leon here's Father's congressman,
Gronech, of the 5th District, whose double
hernia we had the singular privilege of
correcting.
I'm afraid your father's groin was before
my time.
Should have brought your autograph books,
boys.
Colonel Potter's a three-war man.
He was in Korea, WWI, and Ditto II.
You're looking at a genuine hero.
The bravest thing I ever did in the Army
was show up for meals.
If you're looking for real heroes,
the wards are full of them.
That's just what I'm doing, Colonel,
showing these future Dr. Kildare's around.
Maybe we can lunch it up later.
Uh, lunchtime I have to be in two
different places at the same time.
That I can usually do.
Getting to three is a little harder.
Boys, Mike.
Okay, fellas, what say we hop over to the
limb shop?
Good morning, sir.
Dr. Pfeiffer.
Have you seen this issue of the medical
journal?
When you're in a hospital, the last thing
you've got time for is medicine.
There's a tremendous article in here on
the use of vein grafts to repair arterial
lesions on acute traumatic injuries of the
thigh.
How old are you, Pfeiffer?
I wish I was 27 and 6 foot 4 again.
Sir, have you got a minute?
I had a minute last month.
I put it down somewhere.
I'll be damned if someone didn't walk off
with it.
I kind of need to talk.
Time for OR, sir.
Right.
My Lebanese alarm.
I'm glad we can talk in there.
Yes, sir.
It's really kind of important.
VSW representative, please contact
admitting.
Will the VSW representative please contact
admitting.
When do you expect the happy event?
Next month, Father.
You have others, Mrs. Warner?
Two girls.
This will be our first boy.
Never can tell.
I think my own parents were hoping for a
girl, hence my name, Francis.
I suppose had I been a she instead of me,
I'd become a nun.
In which case, my folks would have had a
sister for a daughter instead of a father for a son.
I appreciate you giving me your time,
Father.
Are you comfortable?
He's going in for a test.
He's been feeling something awful.
They don't know what it is.
In case anything goes wrong in there,
you want to forgive me now?
I'll do my part.
God will do the forgiving.
That's his profession.
Thank you, Father.
You ready, Doctor?
All set.
Try not to act as though the patient is an
eight-course meal.
This is better.
Look alive, nurse.
Residents have a tendency to cut into
anything that doesn't move.
Yes, Colonel.
All right.
Next marks the spot.
Just at the iliac crest.
Just at the iliac crest.
Knife, number 10 blade.
Number 10 blade.
Right this way, boys.
It's me, Colonel, Mike D'Angelo.
Bet you thought it was a stick-up, huh?
Hold it.
We're not interrupting, are we?
You in the middle of anybody?
You sure you want these boys to observe
this?
I was told it's nothing too gooey.
Dr. Pfeiffer is about to perform an open
bone marrow biopsy.
This patient's blood count has shown some
abnormalities.
Yesterday, we took a sample of blood cells from
his chest, but we couldn't get enough of them to test.
So now we're going to make a small
incision in his hip, take out some marrow,
send it to the lab, so that we might more
accurately diagnose his problem.
Sir?
Yes, we are.
How will you get down to the marrow?
We use a small mallet and a chisel to chip
away at the bone.
Sir, about that minute you're going to
give me, would now be a good time?
I'm here.
Grab it while you can.
Well, what it comes down to is it's about
maybe leaving.
Leaving the hospital?
Yes, sir.
Is it D'Angelo?
Say the word.
Say the word and I'll perform a horse's
ass-ectomy on him and you can hold the reins.
Oh, that's not it.
Do you know Dr. Brill in River Bend?
Jerry Brill?
Went to med school together.
Good man.
Timing's not too hot.
He proposed to Mildred ten minutes after I
did.
Well, this is from him.
Oh?
$20,000 a year to start.
$20,000.
You know what would be nice?
A steak.
A big steak.
A three-bedroom steak.
A steak you could just move in and eat
your way out of.
A person could do an awful lot with
$20,000.
What about travel?
All that coming and going to the bank just
so you could look at the money?
I gather you've thought this all through.
Well, not much to think about.
Dr. Brill's got tired hands, so I would do his
night calls and share the office load until he retires.
Then he'd turn over his entire practice,
all his equipment, furniture, and all the.
National Geographic's for the tops of the
naked ladies torn out.
You know, if you don't finish three years
of general surgical residency,
you won't be board certified.
I know.
You might be making ten times the money
you're making here at the VA, but some
people will never feel that you're really
fully qualified.
Colonel, are you trying to talk me out of
it?
I guess you could say that.
Well, it's too late.
I've already done that myself.
I don't get it.
I'm staying.
The experience here is invaluable in terms
of practice.
I mean, it's sad, but it's true.
Wars really advance the cause of medicine.
Morticians love them, too.
And then there's you, sir.
Speaking of morticians, working with you
is a tremendous learning experience.
I'd be happy to become half the doctor you
are.
I hope that doesn't embarrass you.
Only half as much as you think it does.
When you get a compliment every 20 years
or so, they're not too hard to take.
Thank you, doctor.
Thank you, doctor.
Pass me the glue.
Dope.
I'm doing the best I can.
The glue is called dope.
Oh, imagine that.
Father, seen Dr. Pfeiffer?
Behind that screen, I believe.
Dr. Pfeiffer?
Just a sec.
You've got to cooperate, sir.
Do your best.
Nobody likes to use a bedpan, especially
if you're afraid of heights.
I took a lab report on Warner,
the bone marrow biopsy.
You're not going to like it.
Neither is he.
Damn.
Leukemia.
I may be kind of tell me that my head is
high Because I am not to get up to kiss a
guy But if I ever get up to take it off my
eyes I do that one for Johnny Smith And he
is very happy with the lady In the truth, he proves
he has proof In the truth, he proves he has proof.
Boy, that lady would make a great dessert.
Going to the polls with enthusiasm,
the populace of our sister republic,
the Philippine Islands overwhelmingly selects
Raymond Magsaysay to be their next president.
And he's friendly to the U.S.
2,100 troops from many different units advance
to within 3,000 feet of a point beneath the blast.
Nearer than any other unprotected humans, with the
exception of the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
History in the making.
Watch closely for its fleeting moment.
Man, that's really something.
You can't really tell in black and white.
First there's this real bright light,
and then there's like a shockwave.
Then the fireball, every color you ever
saw.
And then finally the mushroom.
Can't believe how beautiful it is.
You been at one of these tests?
I've been at six of them.
All on Enuitak.
Except for getting a mouthful of dust,
it's really something to tell your kids about.
Behold, the grim visage of future war.
How do you know who to send Christmas
cards to?
Well, there's the people you love.
My grandma.
My grandma.
And there's friends that you miss.
How about new friends?
Sure, that's especially nice.
I have someone I want to send a Christmas
card to.
Okay.
Okay.
This Christmas, the people you love would
love to hear from you.
Don't forget them.
Give Hallmark Christmas cards when you
care enough to send the very best.
Dr. Pfeiffer to Mr. Klinger's office, please.
Dr. Pfeiffer to Mr. Klinger.
Excuse me.
Don't send for any shovels.
I'm just resting.
I know, sir.
Colonel Potter's not in his office right
now.
He's in a meeting with the committee on
committees, which is meeting all this week
to see if they can cut down on a number of
meetings.
Tom?
More?
A ton.
I'll certainly have him return your call
the minute he gets a second.
Tremendous.
You're a genius.
How'd you get all this?
Personality.
I spread it over people like a tent, which,
incidentally, my forefathers were famous makers of.
Oh, from Washington, from the,
what do you call it, the tumor registry.
It would be the lumpy one.
Is that other stuff I got useful?
Terrific.
Second Marine Division, 6th Regiment,
assigned to duty in Nagasaki, September 23rd, 1945.
Patients stayed in area three months,
participating in cleanup detail,
picking up the pieces.
How do you glue a city back together
again?
In October 1945, that's two
months after the bomb dropped,
metal beams uncovered in
wreckage were still hot to the touch.
My God, the amount of radiation they must
have ingested.
To ingest being the act of what?
Inhaling, swallowing the radioactive
water, the dust.
And they kept this guy stationed there for
three months.
You were never in the service,
were you, Doc?
I was too young.
No one's old enough.
You go where they tell you, you do what
they say.
They say jump, you jump.
Sometimes if a shell lands close enough,
you jump on your own.
You don't like it, too bad.
It's not like you can quit and join the
army across the street.
The whole idea is to teach you to take
orders without thinking, without asking.
So if they tell you, you'll get into a
fistfight with a tank.
You must have loved it.
Love it?
Are you kidding?
I wanted to get out the minute I got in.
In basic training, I wet my bunk every
night for a week.
Didn't work for me, but the guy below me
got out for pneumonia.
And then, and don't let this get around,
to get a Section 8, I used to wear dresses.
Brassieres, garter belts, the whole thing.
I don't believe it.
They didn't either, except for one captain
who wanted me to have his baby.
Perfect.
I'll bring this stuff back.
Hello?
Garter belts, huh?
Never with sportswear.
Colonel Potter's office.
I've spoken with Dr. Pfeiffer, Joe.
He told me what your tests show.
I want you to know you're going to get the
finest care possible.
Actually, there's really no need to be
worried.
The army has taken all of the necessary precautions
to make sure that we're perfectly safe here.
Have you ever been out on a test shot,
sir?
Have I what?
I've had many opportunities to see a
number of atomic tests.
I feel that as a chaplain, it's my
responsibility to be with my men.
What's it like?
First, one sees a very, very bright light,
followed by a shock wave.
And then you hear the sound of the blast, and
then it seems as though there was a minor earthquake.
And then you look up and see the fireball
as it ascends up into the heavens.
It contains all of the colors of the
rainbow.
And as it rises up into the atmosphere,
it turns a beautiful pale yellow.
And then it assembles into a mushroom.
It's a wonderful sight to behold.
Liar.
What's that?
You all lied.
And now I'm gonna die.
Just for doing what I was told.
Why is that, Father?
Why?
This report is unacceptable, Colonel
Potter.
It is unacceptable, unadmissible,
and definitely unappreciated.
Dear God, are we gonna start talking in
triplicate around here?
You've seen Dr. Pfeiffer's comments
on this patient, uh Joe Warner.
Wait a minute.
Joe Warner.
I've seen them, yes.
It's Pfeiffer's opinion
that Warner's leukemia is
service-connected due to his
presence in so many A-bomb tests.
If that were the case, Warner would
eventually be entitled to 100% disability
as his condition, which I see here is terminal,
gradually worsens to his ultimate demise.
Which death would entitle him to 110%,
I imagine.
I'm serious about this.
So am I.
You're talking about nickels and dimes.
This poor bastard is being eaten alive by
cancer.
What's all the frustration?
You think this patient is faking leukemia?
You think he's sneaking in at night and
erasing the bone marrow from his x-rays?
I want the man to get everything he's got
coming.
But service-connected?
That's another can of worms.
If Warner contracted leukemia during the
service, it would have been in his record.
A bullet lets you know it's there a lot
faster than cancer, Mike.
The VA could be plagued with cases like
this.
Vets claiming disability merely because
they were at test sites.
Well, who else is supposed to deal with
it?
Sherm, you know as well as I do,
people were getting leukemia, anemia,
bohemia, for all I know, long before these
tests began going off.
The U.S.
Treasury starts handing out money on this
basis.
On this basis, we'll unleash the
floodgates.
Fair's fair.
We can't turn the atomic bomb into a free
lunch.
Nicely put.
At any rate, there's just no basis for it.
Government studies have definitely proved
that there's only a very, very,
very, very tiny amount of low-level
radiation in weapons testing.
Pfeiffer quotes a study that says no
exposure to radiation is so small that it
doesn't carry some corresponding
mutational risks.
If that's so, he feels
The Warner's unborn baby might even be
affected.
God almighty, Sherm, we've got enough
problems with this case.
Don't hit me with a fetus.
Who prepared this study?
A group of scientists.
And they're saying the government's lying?
Not at all.
They simply have a different opinion.
Scientists have opinions.
The government has facts.
Which are based on the opinions of
scientists.
Not these scientists.
These are the sob sisters and sore losers who
didn't want us to have the A-bomb or the H-bomb.
And now there's one parked in
every garage in the Kremlin.
These are the vinegar pusses who are
ticked off because they can't get a
government Grant to sit in their ivory towers and
study the effects of moonbeams on Guinea pigs in heat.
You're making a mockery out of an honest
disagreement.
Colonel, this I believe.
No American soldier would
ever be exposed to deadly risk
without being fully informed
of the dangers involved.
I feel that as strongly as I do the exact
opposite.
That the objectives of an unfettered military must
take preference over the rights of any individual.
Even if it kills him?
If that's what's best for him.
That is, in terms of the country for which
he stood.
Florida must be lovely this time of year.
You can't wear every case like a shroud,
Colonel.
Warner will get everything he's got coming
to him.
Despite our critics and all the sharpshooters,
believe me, the VA knows what it's doing.
Dr. Pfeiffer, report to Colonel Potter's
office, please.
Someone calling my name in vain?
My office.
I should have been home half an hour ago.
One of us is very unhappy so far.
Come on, give me a hint.
Is it animal, vegetable, or resident?
D'Angelo's overriding my recommendation.
There is not enough data either way.
It'll take years.
Warner hasn't got years.
You didn't give him this illness, son.
He doesn't need a doctor.
He needs a lawyer.
She finally left me for her first love.
He's been on the ground for ten years,
but at least he's never late.
Forget about a lawyer.
The law says a lawyer can accept only ten
dollars for representing a vet before the VA.
A ten dollar lawyer couldn't have gotten Adolf
Hitler off for double parking in downtown Berlin.
So Warner's dead even before he's dead.
A jillion dollar lawyer couldn't help him.
There is no way to challenge a VA decision
in a court of law.
Does the U.S.
government know about the VA?
Do we have relations?
Do we exchange ambassadors?
Sorry, Gene.
Right now I'm on another duty.
I'll see you in the morning.
I'm not so sure.
Pardon me?
I don't know.
Dr. Brill's offer is starting to look
better and better to me.
Oh?
What is the point in doing your best and
losing like this?
Since when did doing your best mean
winning?
Who the hell wins all the time?
If everyone was a winner, who'd ever learn
to be a good sport?
I want to be able to make a difference.
You want a good steak.
That's what you want.
And a flock of chicken pox and measles for
a change.
And maybe the occasional glimpse of pink
undies instead of ratty old skivvies.
You want to make a difference?
Stay here and help Joe Warner.
That young man's miseries have just
started.
If you believe in your findings,
there are going to be more and more Joe.
Warners, and they'll all be knocking on
the VA door.
You're not going to be much help to them
on the 18th hole somewhere.
Harry Truman says, if you can't stand the
heat, get out of the kitchen.
For whatever it's worth, I'm in the
kitchen beside you all the way.
Yes, sir.
Knock, knock.
Oh, Mildred, I'm ready.
This will save us time getting over to the
calendar.
Good evening, Mrs. Potter.
Good evening, Dr. Pfeiffer.
I was really loaded up today.
Truth is, I'm I'm not even finished yet.
Well, you can come back after dinner if
you like.
Oh, that'd be a big help.
This'll be the third night this week he's
put in at the hospital.
He must like it.
You wouldn't think so.
All he ever talks about is quitting here.
Oh?
Something wrong, young man?
Oh, no, no.
It's just that you look a little silly.
That's better.
Don't go away.
We'll be right back.
Bob?
Finally going home, Sarge?
Yep.
What are you doing up so late?
Day or night, it's pretty much the same
around here.
You feeling all right?
Oh, not in 35 years.
If I ever started feeling good,
it'd scare the hell out of me.
Okay?
Damn mustard gas.
Thank God soldiers today don't have to
breathe in anything that'll eat their insides out.
Yeah, thank God.
Like the new lines they painted?
Supposed to be a help.
Yeah, only now I can't find a way back to
my room.
Good night, sir.
Tuesday, a woman is dead, her former
lover's accused.
You had blood and scratches on your face.
And when Ben uncovers the truth,
the real killer vows to murder him.
On the Mississippi.
Now stay tuned as a winter snowstorm has
Stephanie stranded and logging time in a
cabin with Larry, Daryl, and Daryl on New
Heart.
Next.
Next.