Preventative Medicine

Hawkeye and BJ encounter a Colonel who is willing to put his troops at risk big time, all for the glory of taking a hill. Hawkeye crossed the line big time. I'm on BJ's side here. In some ways, Hawkeye's very unethical conduct presaged his breakdown in Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.

This is a very memorable episode. It starts with the usual operating room banter. The conversation eventually gets around to a certain Colonel Lacey. He has the highest casualty rate of any commander in Korea. As they are looking after the wounded in the recovery area, who should show up but Lacey himself. He is a big, handsome, walking model for a soldier with absolutely no conscience. He has no qualms about giving up a third of his men to take hill. His own soldiers can't stand the sight of him and one tells Hawkeye about it. The guys (including Colonel Potter) do what they can to diminish his role, but he doesn't listen a bit. Then Hawkeye has a solution which smacks at the height of medical malfeasance. The question, in this episode, is what extremes can one go to to protect the lives of soldiers.

Only here to fix a mistake on idmb. idmb list a good of col.lacey wearing the wrong rank cause he is wearing oak leafs. as a battalion commander col lacey would be a luitenant Colonel whish is between the ranks of major and colonel. their emblem is a silver oakleaf cluster which is what shows on his color. both Luitenant Colonel and Colonel are addressed simply as Colonel.