TV Quote of the Day (‘M*A*S*H,’ on a General Going Out in a Different Kind of Glory)

[General Robert Kelly—a.k.a. “Iron Guts”—has died after a nocturnal visit to the tent of head nurse Margaret Houlihan. Once the body is discovered, a coverup begins.]

Colonel Wortman [played by Keene Curtis]: “Get me Kimpo Air Base. I want a squadron of jets. And get me the Navy for some offshore bombardment. Major General Robert ‘Iron Guts’ Kelly is gonna perish in a full-scale, blazing, all-out glorious, star-spangled bannered death.”

Lt. Col. Henry Blake [played by McLean Stevenson] [walks over to talk to Hawkeye and Trapper]: “Hey, guys.”

Army Capt. "Trapper John" McIntyre [played by Wayne Rogers]: “Yes, Henry.”

Henry: “Is he talking about killing a General who's already dead?”

Trapper John: “That's right, Henry.”

Henry: “Well, uh, isn't that sort of crazy?”

Wortman [on phone]: “And rockets! I want plenty of rockets!”

Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce [played by Alan Alda]: “That's for the red glare.”—M*A*S*H, Season 3, Episode 4, “Iron Guts Kelly,” original air date Oct. 1, 1974, teleplay by Sid Dorfman, directed by Don Weis

[The image accompanying this post shows McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers as Henry and Trapper.]