Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly
This is a week early, but next week, I will be away at a convention, so:
Title: An Innocent Goes to War
FANDOM: M*A*S*H
Character: Corporal Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly
Author: hobsonphile
Spoilers/Notes: I will only be addressing the television show, as I consider the movie and the novel (not to mention the unsold post-canonical pilot) interesting academically, but not germane to my interpretation of the character in question.
*****
Imagine, if you will, that your platoon’s position on a numbered Korean hill has just been besieged by North Korean and Chinese troops and that you have been cut down in the fighting. You have been loaded onto an ambulance at Battalion Aid and transported over rough roads to the nearest MASH unit - and, unfortunately for you, you have remained relatively conscious through the whole process, hearing the groans of your fellow soldiers and smelling the blood, mud, and rot. The ambulance stops, the doors are thrown open, and among the men you see clamber into the vehicle is a little teenager wearing coke-bottle glasses and a wool cap. He is collecting personal items and peering at dog tags, scribbling down names with a too-short pencil on a clipboard he carries in his left hand.
When the boy - although perhaps you are about the same age and thus see the teenager as a peer - approaches, he notices that you are conscious, and he begins to talk to you. Maybe, as he is making note of the lucky charm you carry in your pocket, he asks you where you are from. Maybe he asks you what happened to your platoon in the hills. Then, before he moves on to the next patient, he may tell you not to worry - “These surgeons are the best I’ve ever seen.”
You have just met Corporal Walter Eugene O’Reilly - or “Radar”, as his colleagues universally address him - the 4077th’s company clerk.
“You always take a little bit of Iowa with you wherever you go.” - Early Life
My interpretation of Radar’s backstory is one-half canon and one-half conjecture. The show is relatively careless with the timeline, but if we assume that an eighteen-year-old Radar arrived in Korea in the fall of 1950, that would place his birth sometime in 1932. This has some interesting implications. Canonically, we know he was born to a corn farmer and his wife in the rural community of Ottumwa, Iowa. During the Great Depression, farmers were among the United States’ neediest citizens. Given this, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Edna O’Reilly (and, until his death, her husband) was forced to make considerable sacrifices to care for her infant son.
Family life in the O’Reilly homestead was defined by tragedy. Radar’s father was already in his sixties when Radar was born -and a few years later, during a game of peek-a-boo with his toddler, he had a stroke and passed away. From that point forward, Radar was cared for by his mother, Edna, his older sisters, a disabled brother, and a bevy of aunts and uncles, including Radar’s Uncle Ed, who took over the management of the family farm.
Canon suggests that the O’Reilly family was a conservative, Methodist family. Edna O’Reilly herself was only minimally literate - not unexpected given the time period and Edna’s social status - but her son remained deeply devoted to her even in his young adulthood. In Korea, Radar still worries about his mother’s health and writes to her often.
Radar himself did go to school, but it is implied that his attendance was inconsistent - again, not unexpected given the time period. He attended Ottumwa Central High School (enrollment: approximately 400), but did not finish his course requirements and was forced to take a high school equivalency exam in Korea. He had a high school sweetheart, but early in his tour of duty in Korea, his girlfriend left him for another man and mailed him a “Dear John” recording.
Having grown up in poverty in a fairly sheltered environment, Radar comes to Korea relatively uneducated and quite innocent. Whenever Henry tries to deliver the regular VD lecture, Radar is usually the only soldier in attendance who doesn’t see the whole process as a hilarious joke. And beyond these carnal issues, Radar also demonstrates some stunning gaps in his academic knowledge throughout canon. He sings the alphabet to himself as he does his filing, doesn’t quite know how to spell, and doesn’t always understand the vocabulary the surgeons use, often assuming that what they’re saying is naughty in some way. But despite his lack of “book smarts,” Radar becomes an extremely competent Army clerk thanks to some key personal strengths.
“Because sometimes I know what’s going to happen before it happens, sir.” - Strengths
Radar is nicknamed thus because of his incredible ability to perceive things beyond the range of normal human hearing. He hears choppers before they appear over the hills - and even, on many occasions, seems to read minds. He knows his commanding officers’ orders before they are ordered and appears at their elbows before he is called. During the first three seasons, Radar repeatedly startles Henry with the swiftness of his responses - and it is not unusual to see Radar acknowledging Henry’s orders at the same time said orders are being uttered. The Unison ThingTM happens so often, in fact, that it can be legitimately referred to as an iconic running joke.
Beyond possessing a preternatural hearing that borders on telepathy, Radar is also extremely insightful and compassionate when it comes to people, their emotions, and their relationships. Radar knows everything - and not just the prurient stuff that every little brother wants to know. His eyes and his ears (and his “ESP”) are open all the time - and even more importantly, he understands what's going on with all the people around him. In a conversation with Potter in Hawk’s Nightmare, we see that Radar gets that Hawkeye's almost nonstop joking is a defense mechanism, even though he doesn't have the education to put it in those specific terms. He notices that Colonel Potter adores horses and, in Dear Mildred, responds by giving Potter a horse as a gift. In Showtime, he sees that Henry is depressed over missing the birth of his son, and, hoping that he can make Henry feel better, he asks a Korean woman working in the laundry if Henry can hold her own newborn. In End Run, Radar convinces a patient, a talented football player, that his life is not over simply because he has lost his leg. In Some 38th Parallels, he befriends a patient, only to be devastated when that patient dies from his injuries. He even looks out for the Koreans who live around the encampment, sincerely striving to learn some of their language and playing with the local orphans.
“But I don’t know what my feelings are.” - Weaknesses
But while Radar is profoundly gifted when it comes to interpersonal relationships, his intrapersonal intelligence is lacking. He simply doesn’t understand - nor can he express in words - the workings of his own soul, and throughout the series, his identity is in a constant state of flux. Because of his gentleness and kindness of spirit, Radar is liked by virtually everyone - but like many adolescents, Radar himself never seems satisfied with who he really is. In The Most Unforgettable Characters, Radar decides he’s going to be a Writer. In Fallen Idol, he frets that he has yet to be a Hot Lover. In Images, he decides being a Beer-Drinking Tattoo Guy will garner respect. In Hepatitis, he worries that he is not man enough simply because he does not mess around with the local business girls. In House Arrest, he buys lifts to stop the teasing about his height, and Hawkeye has to convince him that being small is no reflection of the true nature of his heart. Radar is always seeking the approval of his comrades, trying on their identities and mores like a woman tries on swimsuits.
Because he does not have that stable sense of identity that allows the elder members of the unit to assert themselves, Radar is also very meek and tends to let superior officers walk all over him. In no relationship is this more apparent than in Radar’s relationship with the hot-tempered Major Margaret Houlihan, the 4077th’s chief nurse. Radar often ends up getting the brunt of Margaret’s wrath, but instead of sticking up for himself, he usually backs away. Their scene together in Last Laugh is an excellent illustration of this tendency. In the scene in question, a sexually frustrated Margaret orders Radar to put in a call to her husband, Donald. When Radar informs her that Colonel Potter has ordered him to limit personal calls at that time of day, she threatens him with bodily harm - and Radar immediately complies with her demand. Unfortunately for Radar, the call fails to go through, and Margaret throws a dramatic temper tantrum in his office, tearing apart all of his files, kicking him in the tush, and plunking a trash can on his head. In this particular instance, Radar does complain later upon the colonel’s return, but during the scene itself, he basically takes the abuse. Granted, it is demonstrated in several scenes throughout the series that Margaret does have a basic fondness for Radar deep down, but it is still quite telling that Radar expects to be punched when he delivers bad news to Margaret in Peace On Us. The dysfunctional dynamic on display in Last Laugh - and in other episodes - is arguably a pattern. Radar appears to have quietly accepted the notion that Army hierarchy leaves him with no other recourse than to let Margaret shout at him - or to let Major Frank Burns rouse him in the middle of the night to inspect him in his underwear. Someone more educated and less timid would quickly realize that this is not the case.
But it is important to note that even though Radar is respectful of authority almost to a fault, he is not unable to draw a few of his own moral judgments about his elders’ behavior. Still, in this too, his adolescence shines through, for often his conclusions, especially regarding those he cherishes most, are child-like in their rigidity. In Lil, a visiting senior nurse befriends Colonel Potter, and all but Radar are happy about the development. Radar, on the other hand, spends the entire episode wringing his hands over what he sees as a threat to Potter’s fidelity. In Mail Call Three, meanwhile, Radar learns that his mother has a boyfriend and he is absolutely indignant. “Old people,” he declares, “aren’t s’posed to go runnin’ around like that!” And lastly, the most famous example of Radar’s rigidity can be seen in Fallen Idol. In this sixth-season episode, Hawkeye urges Radar, who expresses concern about his persistent sexual inexperience, to go to Seoul to lose his virginity once and for all. On the way, Radar is caught up in an attack and is injured. A guilt-ridden Hawkeye drinks himself into a stupor and, the next morning, stumbles out of a surgery to vomit outside the O.R. A recuperating Radar is outraged when he hears what has happened and personally takes Hawkeye to task for his uncharacteristic behavior. A fight results and feelings are injured all around. Now, Radar’s basic disappointment here is not groundless or naïve. Everyone in the outfit - Hawkeye included - has gotten soused at one point or another, and until this episode, nobody let it interfere with his or her work. But while Colonel Potter can reprimand Hawkeye and still maintain his basic affection and respect for him, the younger Radar is emotionally unable to strike that same balance. “A lot of people look up to you here,” he tells Hawkeye, clearly expressing his own feelings. “They admire you and kinda feel like they want to be like you. And - gee, when you walk out on an operation, they kinda feel like you let ‘em down. And if they can’t depend on you, well, they figure, well, maybe there’s no point in depending on anything.” Temporarily, Radar allows his disappointment to overwhelm him - and some days pass before he can come to terms with Hawkeye’s fallibility.
“I know he’s not real, but we’re very close” - Quirks
In addition to the aforementioned strengths and weaknesses, Radar also has a whole host of amusing - and, in some cases, poignant - personality quirks. He reads Marvel comics - and believes some of the advertisements on the back page. He plays the drums well - and the bugle badly. The sight - and even the mere thought - of blood makes him weak in the knees. He’s very silly when he’s drunk - and when he elects to stay sober, he has a fondness for Grape Nehi. He is the only one who can stomach the food in the mess, and he eats like the proverbial horse. He often sleeps with his boots on, bathes irregularly, and gets embarrassed when his friends see him naked. And then there’s his teddy bear.
Radar’s teddy bear - a gift from his brother - makes its first appearance in I Hate a Mystery, and from that point on, it becomes the most important - and famous - symbol of Radar’s innocence. He sleeps with it nightly, talks to it, and gets upset when others steal it or rough it up. In an achingly sweet scene in Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?, he even has his teddy bear blessed by a patient who believes he’s Jesus Christ. And when Radar departs for home in Goodbye, Radar a more confident and mature young man, he gives his teddy bear to Hawkeye, who keeps it until he and Margaret bury it in a time capsule to symbolize those boys, like Radar, who were forced to grow up on the battlefield.
Another indelible feature of Radar’s personality - and another testament to his inherently tender and peaceful nature - is his love for animals. Over the course of his term of service, Radar keeps and cares for a multitude of rabbits, guinea pigs, skunks, tortoises, possums, and other creatures. If you were an animal who happened to stumble into the encampment of the 4077th, the chances are great that you would be scooped up by Radar and adopted as a new friend. In Radar’s universe, even the honey bees deserve their own names, and he speaks of and to all of his animals as if they were people. He is deeply concerned for every animal’s welfare, and if an animal is hurt or in trouble, he always argues for or chooses the course of action that is most likely to keep the animal alive. In Dear Mildred, when a chopper pilot mentions his intention to put an injured horse to death, Radar begs Hawkeye and BJ for the opportunity to save the horse’s life instead. In What’s Up, Doc?, Radar refuses to allow Hawkeye and Margaret to use one of his rabbits for a pregnancy test unless they promise not to kill it. In Private Charles Lamb, he steals a Greek unit’s lamb and has it shipped back to Ottumwa before it is slaughtered for a celebratory meal. And in They Call the Wind Korea, when he loses his guinea pig, Babette, during a windstorm, he searches for her for more than eight hours, refusing to believe she’s lost forever. “I’ve kept her alive through a whole war,” he says to Hawkeye. “I’m not gonna give up now.” Radar’s menagerie is his tie to hope and his escape from the horrors around him.
A New Family - Relationships
In his role as company clerk, Radar is considered by his co-workers - and his commanding officers - to be the backbone of the 4077th. As time goes by, he becomes quite deft at acquiring necessary supplies and keeping the unit’s records in order. But Radar is also the heart of a makeshift family. He is not only attentive to everyone’s pragmatic needs, but also dedicated to keeping the emotional ties in the unit at full strength. When Hawkeye and BJ’s play-acting for Frank devolves into a genuine fight in The Most Unforgettable Characters, it is Radar who is most disturbed by the development. For Radar, bonds of friendship are meant to be permanent, not ephemeral. Thus, it is hardly surprising that Radar grows profoundly close to more than one member of the 4077th.
The first of these is the unit’s original commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake. During his tenure, Henry develops an easy familiarity with Radar and treats him very much like a son. Almost immediately, he takes up the responsibility for Radar’s physical, emotional, and moral well-being. It is revealing, for example, that in one first season episode, Henry, Please Come Home, it is only a belief that Radar is seriously ill that inspires Henry to cut his sojourn in Tokyo short. Henry goes to an awful lot of trouble to get a local dog tested for rabies when Radar is bitten in Mad Dogs and Servicemen, and he once stayed up long into the night searching for Radar’s appendix, a story that is related in Abyssinia, Henry. Henry also feels accountable when, in The Chosen People, a local girl claims Radar is the father of her child - and he has tried to share with his clerk everything he knows about women, a fact later reported by Radar in Dear Mildred.
Meanwhile, Radar tries his best to tend to Henry’s needs and adopts him as a surrogate father. As mentioned above, he seeks physical comfort for Henry when Henry misses the birth of his son in Showtime. He expresses the hope that he and Henry will meet at some future date after the war in Ceasefire. And Radar also arranges a call home after Henry receives a letter from his wife, Lorraine, in Life With Father that leads him to believe she is seeing another man - and quietly gives Henry his handkerchief when the call is prematurely cut short. Henry and Radar are so close during the first three seasons, in fact, that Radar knows about Henry’s snoring, something that is revealed in Crisis. It’s no wonder that Hawkeye once referred to Radar as Henry’s “three foot shadow.”
Henry’s sudden death at the end of the third season is by far the most devastating blow Radar suffers to his innocence, though it is by no means the last. When he delivers the message to the staff in the O.R., he only barely stays upright, and when he leaves, he is absolutely wrecked. The consequences of this single moment are felt even as late as the seventh season when, in Our Finest Hour, Radar is asked what he will remember most about his term in Korea, and Radar responds that Henry’s death - that “very bad day” - is his strongest memory.
After Henry, it takes some time for Radar to adjust to the “regular Army” style of Colonel Sherman Potter. But while Radar never enjoys the same mental synchronicity with Potter than he once shared with Henry, he does become attached to Potter as well - and Potter, for his part, comes to see Radar as a beloved almost-grandson, taking Radar under his wing and, in his own way, trying to pick up where his predecessor left off. Potter looks after Radar when Radar drinks himself into unconsciousness worrying over an injured colonel’s missing weapon in The Gun, taking care to tuck him in with his teddy bear. He also advises Radar to give up the big words and speak from his heart in The Most Unforgettable Characters and gently urges Radar to forgive Hawkeye after their fight in Fallen Idol. Like Henry, Potter takes up the duty of helping Radar through his adolescence, and in return, Radar is willing to do almost anything to make Potter’s life more enjoyable, whether it be obtaining some hard-to-find tomato juice or raising bees for honey. But in truth, my favorite scene between Radar and Potter is delightfully simple and has nothing to do with anything mentioned above: in an adorable scene at the end of The Gun, they accidentally mix up their glasses.
As detailed above, Radar loves both of his commanding officers - but his closest friendship, hands down, is with Hawkeye Pierce. Hawkeye is Radar’s big brother in soul, if not in genetics - and like most loving big brothers, he is always a caring role model, even though, being human, he is not quite a perfect one. He is a fount of advice that is good relatively often, and is willing to do anything - up to and including whitewashing Frank’s butt - in Radar’s defense. This is fortunate, as canon makes it quite clear that Radar, as a soft-hearted teenager, needs a lot of advice and not a little defending.
It is important not to forget, however, that Radar’s devotion to Hawkeye does have a slight - and wholly unintentional - negative impact, for while Hawkeye consistently urges Radar to relax and just be himself, he is also unconsciously sending some very different messages through his own behavior. It is all well and good for Hawkeye to tell his friend to take things at his own pace, but when he chases various skirts about the compound, he also teaches Radar through his example that true heroes are fast.
Still, scenes that are illustrative of the positive influence Hawkeye has on Radar are legion. In Mail Call, for example, Radar comes to Hawkeye for help answering a pen pal’s letter. Ultimately, it is revealed that Radar sent a picture of Hawkeye rather than himself to this young woman. “She wants to know my feelings,” Radar says, “and they gotta sound like the kind that come out of the face of the person I sent her the picture of.” “Radar, you can’t send her my feelings,” Hawkeye replies. “You have to send her yours.” In this way, Hawkeye inspires Radar to come clean. In Hepatitis, meanwhile, when Hawkeye discovers that Radar is questioning his manhood because he can’t bring himself to horse around like the other soldiers, he immediately sets him straight:
"Look, everybody's different, Radar. You're here with a buncha guys you'll probably never see again. You don't have to try to be like them. You know, most people act crazy when they're out of town. But you're different. You always take a little bit of Iowa with you wherever you go. That's nice - don't try to change that. Someday, you'll meet somebody that you'd like to introduce to your mom. And instead of taking advantage of her, you'll offer her a gift you've been working on all your life - yourself."
Leaving Korea
How Radar leaves Korea says almost as much about his character and his relationships as what he did while he was there. For example, Radar may leave his teddy behind, but it is strongly implied that he is still innocent in some Crucial Respects, shall we say, when he goes home in Goodbye, Radar. His hesitance to jump full-bore into I & I in Tokyo (Intercourse and Intoxication) - and the fact that he still feels self-conscious enough to put on a show for his friends back at the 4077th - points to that conclusion. Radar leaves Korea a virgin in defiance of a social code that states that a man must have sex to be a man.
It is also very telling that Radar hesitates before going home. And that hesitation, it should be emphasized, is only partly due to the fear that Klinger will “shamble-ize” his office and his position. Certainly, Radar works hard and has grown very particular about the office routine - in addition to his reaction upon returning from Tokyo, consider how irritated he gets in Commander Pierce when Hawkeye cheerfully ignores the paperwork. But Radar’s biggest fear is that he won’t see his friends ever again. Whenever the subject of post-war plans is broached during the course of the show, who is the one who consistently suggests that members of the unit meet again? Who consistently speaks of post-war lunches and dinners? Radar. As stated above, Radar does not wish for his friendships to be ephemeral.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye, flawed big-brother figure that he is, proves that, though his intentions are always good, he’s not always super-aware of what’s really going on inside Radar. Hollering at Radar that the unit doesn’t need him - not to mention mocking his manhood - are two exactly wrong approaches. They do nothing to demonstrate - effectively - that the 4077th will be okay without Radar, they target one of Radar’s principle character weaknesses (namely, his self-conscious adulthood), and they certainly don’t attempt to assuage Radar’s aforementioned biggest fear. No wonder Radar, who at this point is a little more willing to assert himself, angrily rebels.
Yet even with the strained moments - like the one above - that pepper Radar’s send-off, there is a general feeling that everyone is happy to have known him. Margaret lets down her guard and admits that Radar reminds her of “an old Raggedy Ann doll I had as a kid. I’d kick it, pull out its eyes, yell at it, ignore it - and then when I lost it, I’d cry for days.” Potter tearfully hugs Radar and wishes him well. And Hawkeye salutes his friend for the second time - and Hawkeye never salutes anyone.
Anyone, that is, except Radar.
Links
Celebrating Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly
The Gary Burghoff Fansite @ Best Care Anywhere
Title: An Innocent Goes to War
FANDOM: M*A*S*H
Character: Corporal Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly
Author: hobsonphile
Spoilers/Notes: I will only be addressing the television show, as I consider the movie and the novel (not to mention the unsold post-canonical pilot) interesting academically, but not germane to my interpretation of the character in question.
*****
Imagine, if you will, that your platoon’s position on a numbered Korean hill has just been besieged by North Korean and Chinese troops and that you have been cut down in the fighting. You have been loaded onto an ambulance at Battalion Aid and transported over rough roads to the nearest MASH unit - and, unfortunately for you, you have remained relatively conscious through the whole process, hearing the groans of your fellow soldiers and smelling the blood, mud, and rot. The ambulance stops, the doors are thrown open, and among the men you see clamber into the vehicle is a little teenager wearing coke-bottle glasses and a wool cap. He is collecting personal items and peering at dog tags, scribbling down names with a too-short pencil on a clipboard he carries in his left hand.
When the boy - although perhaps you are about the same age and thus see the teenager as a peer - approaches, he notices that you are conscious, and he begins to talk to you. Maybe, as he is making note of the lucky charm you carry in your pocket, he asks you where you are from. Maybe he asks you what happened to your platoon in the hills. Then, before he moves on to the next patient, he may tell you not to worry - “These surgeons are the best I’ve ever seen.”
You have just met Corporal Walter Eugene O’Reilly - or “Radar”, as his colleagues universally address him - the 4077th’s company clerk.
“You always take a little bit of Iowa with you wherever you go.” - Early Life
My interpretation of Radar’s backstory is one-half canon and one-half conjecture. The show is relatively careless with the timeline, but if we assume that an eighteen-year-old Radar arrived in Korea in the fall of 1950, that would place his birth sometime in 1932. This has some interesting implications. Canonically, we know he was born to a corn farmer and his wife in the rural community of Ottumwa, Iowa. During the Great Depression, farmers were among the United States’ neediest citizens. Given this, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Edna O’Reilly (and, until his death, her husband) was forced to make considerable sacrifices to care for her infant son.
Family life in the O’Reilly homestead was defined by tragedy. Radar’s father was already in his sixties when Radar was born -and a few years later, during a game of peek-a-boo with his toddler, he had a stroke and passed away. From that point forward, Radar was cared for by his mother, Edna, his older sisters, a disabled brother, and a bevy of aunts and uncles, including Radar’s Uncle Ed, who took over the management of the family farm.
Canon suggests that the O’Reilly family was a conservative, Methodist family. Edna O’Reilly herself was only minimally literate - not unexpected given the time period and Edna’s social status - but her son remained deeply devoted to her even in his young adulthood. In Korea, Radar still worries about his mother’s health and writes to her often.
Radar himself did go to school, but it is implied that his attendance was inconsistent - again, not unexpected given the time period. He attended Ottumwa Central High School (enrollment: approximately 400), but did not finish his course requirements and was forced to take a high school equivalency exam in Korea. He had a high school sweetheart, but early in his tour of duty in Korea, his girlfriend left him for another man and mailed him a “Dear John” recording.
Having grown up in poverty in a fairly sheltered environment, Radar comes to Korea relatively uneducated and quite innocent. Whenever Henry tries to deliver the regular VD lecture, Radar is usually the only soldier in attendance who doesn’t see the whole process as a hilarious joke. And beyond these carnal issues, Radar also demonstrates some stunning gaps in his academic knowledge throughout canon. He sings the alphabet to himself as he does his filing, doesn’t quite know how to spell, and doesn’t always understand the vocabulary the surgeons use, often assuming that what they’re saying is naughty in some way. But despite his lack of “book smarts,” Radar becomes an extremely competent Army clerk thanks to some key personal strengths.
“Because sometimes I know what’s going to happen before it happens, sir.” - Strengths
Radar is nicknamed thus because of his incredible ability to perceive things beyond the range of normal human hearing. He hears choppers before they appear over the hills - and even, on many occasions, seems to read minds. He knows his commanding officers’ orders before they are ordered and appears at their elbows before he is called. During the first three seasons, Radar repeatedly startles Henry with the swiftness of his responses - and it is not unusual to see Radar acknowledging Henry’s orders at the same time said orders are being uttered. The Unison ThingTM happens so often, in fact, that it can be legitimately referred to as an iconic running joke.
Beyond possessing a preternatural hearing that borders on telepathy, Radar is also extremely insightful and compassionate when it comes to people, their emotions, and their relationships. Radar knows everything - and not just the prurient stuff that every little brother wants to know. His eyes and his ears (and his “ESP”) are open all the time - and even more importantly, he understands what's going on with all the people around him. In a conversation with Potter in Hawk’s Nightmare, we see that Radar gets that Hawkeye's almost nonstop joking is a defense mechanism, even though he doesn't have the education to put it in those specific terms. He notices that Colonel Potter adores horses and, in Dear Mildred, responds by giving Potter a horse as a gift. In Showtime, he sees that Henry is depressed over missing the birth of his son, and, hoping that he can make Henry feel better, he asks a Korean woman working in the laundry if Henry can hold her own newborn. In End Run, Radar convinces a patient, a talented football player, that his life is not over simply because he has lost his leg. In Some 38th Parallels, he befriends a patient, only to be devastated when that patient dies from his injuries. He even looks out for the Koreans who live around the encampment, sincerely striving to learn some of their language and playing with the local orphans.
“But I don’t know what my feelings are.” - Weaknesses
But while Radar is profoundly gifted when it comes to interpersonal relationships, his intrapersonal intelligence is lacking. He simply doesn’t understand - nor can he express in words - the workings of his own soul, and throughout the series, his identity is in a constant state of flux. Because of his gentleness and kindness of spirit, Radar is liked by virtually everyone - but like many adolescents, Radar himself never seems satisfied with who he really is. In The Most Unforgettable Characters, Radar decides he’s going to be a Writer. In Fallen Idol, he frets that he has yet to be a Hot Lover. In Images, he decides being a Beer-Drinking Tattoo Guy will garner respect. In Hepatitis, he worries that he is not man enough simply because he does not mess around with the local business girls. In House Arrest, he buys lifts to stop the teasing about his height, and Hawkeye has to convince him that being small is no reflection of the true nature of his heart. Radar is always seeking the approval of his comrades, trying on their identities and mores like a woman tries on swimsuits.
Because he does not have that stable sense of identity that allows the elder members of the unit to assert themselves, Radar is also very meek and tends to let superior officers walk all over him. In no relationship is this more apparent than in Radar’s relationship with the hot-tempered Major Margaret Houlihan, the 4077th’s chief nurse. Radar often ends up getting the brunt of Margaret’s wrath, but instead of sticking up for himself, he usually backs away. Their scene together in Last Laugh is an excellent illustration of this tendency. In the scene in question, a sexually frustrated Margaret orders Radar to put in a call to her husband, Donald. When Radar informs her that Colonel Potter has ordered him to limit personal calls at that time of day, she threatens him with bodily harm - and Radar immediately complies with her demand. Unfortunately for Radar, the call fails to go through, and Margaret throws a dramatic temper tantrum in his office, tearing apart all of his files, kicking him in the tush, and plunking a trash can on his head. In this particular instance, Radar does complain later upon the colonel’s return, but during the scene itself, he basically takes the abuse. Granted, it is demonstrated in several scenes throughout the series that Margaret does have a basic fondness for Radar deep down, but it is still quite telling that Radar expects to be punched when he delivers bad news to Margaret in Peace On Us. The dysfunctional dynamic on display in Last Laugh - and in other episodes - is arguably a pattern. Radar appears to have quietly accepted the notion that Army hierarchy leaves him with no other recourse than to let Margaret shout at him - or to let Major Frank Burns rouse him in the middle of the night to inspect him in his underwear. Someone more educated and less timid would quickly realize that this is not the case.
But it is important to note that even though Radar is respectful of authority almost to a fault, he is not unable to draw a few of his own moral judgments about his elders’ behavior. Still, in this too, his adolescence shines through, for often his conclusions, especially regarding those he cherishes most, are child-like in their rigidity. In Lil, a visiting senior nurse befriends Colonel Potter, and all but Radar are happy about the development. Radar, on the other hand, spends the entire episode wringing his hands over what he sees as a threat to Potter’s fidelity. In Mail Call Three, meanwhile, Radar learns that his mother has a boyfriend and he is absolutely indignant. “Old people,” he declares, “aren’t s’posed to go runnin’ around like that!” And lastly, the most famous example of Radar’s rigidity can be seen in Fallen Idol. In this sixth-season episode, Hawkeye urges Radar, who expresses concern about his persistent sexual inexperience, to go to Seoul to lose his virginity once and for all. On the way, Radar is caught up in an attack and is injured. A guilt-ridden Hawkeye drinks himself into a stupor and, the next morning, stumbles out of a surgery to vomit outside the O.R. A recuperating Radar is outraged when he hears what has happened and personally takes Hawkeye to task for his uncharacteristic behavior. A fight results and feelings are injured all around. Now, Radar’s basic disappointment here is not groundless or naïve. Everyone in the outfit - Hawkeye included - has gotten soused at one point or another, and until this episode, nobody let it interfere with his or her work. But while Colonel Potter can reprimand Hawkeye and still maintain his basic affection and respect for him, the younger Radar is emotionally unable to strike that same balance. “A lot of people look up to you here,” he tells Hawkeye, clearly expressing his own feelings. “They admire you and kinda feel like they want to be like you. And - gee, when you walk out on an operation, they kinda feel like you let ‘em down. And if they can’t depend on you, well, they figure, well, maybe there’s no point in depending on anything.” Temporarily, Radar allows his disappointment to overwhelm him - and some days pass before he can come to terms with Hawkeye’s fallibility.
“I know he’s not real, but we’re very close” - Quirks
In addition to the aforementioned strengths and weaknesses, Radar also has a whole host of amusing - and, in some cases, poignant - personality quirks. He reads Marvel comics - and believes some of the advertisements on the back page. He plays the drums well - and the bugle badly. The sight - and even the mere thought - of blood makes him weak in the knees. He’s very silly when he’s drunk - and when he elects to stay sober, he has a fondness for Grape Nehi. He is the only one who can stomach the food in the mess, and he eats like the proverbial horse. He often sleeps with his boots on, bathes irregularly, and gets embarrassed when his friends see him naked. And then there’s his teddy bear.
Radar’s teddy bear - a gift from his brother - makes its first appearance in I Hate a Mystery, and from that point on, it becomes the most important - and famous - symbol of Radar’s innocence. He sleeps with it nightly, talks to it, and gets upset when others steal it or rough it up. In an achingly sweet scene in Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?, he even has his teddy bear blessed by a patient who believes he’s Jesus Christ. And when Radar departs for home in Goodbye, Radar a more confident and mature young man, he gives his teddy bear to Hawkeye, who keeps it until he and Margaret bury it in a time capsule to symbolize those boys, like Radar, who were forced to grow up on the battlefield.
Another indelible feature of Radar’s personality - and another testament to his inherently tender and peaceful nature - is his love for animals. Over the course of his term of service, Radar keeps and cares for a multitude of rabbits, guinea pigs, skunks, tortoises, possums, and other creatures. If you were an animal who happened to stumble into the encampment of the 4077th, the chances are great that you would be scooped up by Radar and adopted as a new friend. In Radar’s universe, even the honey bees deserve their own names, and he speaks of and to all of his animals as if they were people. He is deeply concerned for every animal’s welfare, and if an animal is hurt or in trouble, he always argues for or chooses the course of action that is most likely to keep the animal alive. In Dear Mildred, when a chopper pilot mentions his intention to put an injured horse to death, Radar begs Hawkeye and BJ for the opportunity to save the horse’s life instead. In What’s Up, Doc?, Radar refuses to allow Hawkeye and Margaret to use one of his rabbits for a pregnancy test unless they promise not to kill it. In Private Charles Lamb, he steals a Greek unit’s lamb and has it shipped back to Ottumwa before it is slaughtered for a celebratory meal. And in They Call the Wind Korea, when he loses his guinea pig, Babette, during a windstorm, he searches for her for more than eight hours, refusing to believe she’s lost forever. “I’ve kept her alive through a whole war,” he says to Hawkeye. “I’m not gonna give up now.” Radar’s menagerie is his tie to hope and his escape from the horrors around him.
A New Family - Relationships
In his role as company clerk, Radar is considered by his co-workers - and his commanding officers - to be the backbone of the 4077th. As time goes by, he becomes quite deft at acquiring necessary supplies and keeping the unit’s records in order. But Radar is also the heart of a makeshift family. He is not only attentive to everyone’s pragmatic needs, but also dedicated to keeping the emotional ties in the unit at full strength. When Hawkeye and BJ’s play-acting for Frank devolves into a genuine fight in The Most Unforgettable Characters, it is Radar who is most disturbed by the development. For Radar, bonds of friendship are meant to be permanent, not ephemeral. Thus, it is hardly surprising that Radar grows profoundly close to more than one member of the 4077th.
The first of these is the unit’s original commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake. During his tenure, Henry develops an easy familiarity with Radar and treats him very much like a son. Almost immediately, he takes up the responsibility for Radar’s physical, emotional, and moral well-being. It is revealing, for example, that in one first season episode, Henry, Please Come Home, it is only a belief that Radar is seriously ill that inspires Henry to cut his sojourn in Tokyo short. Henry goes to an awful lot of trouble to get a local dog tested for rabies when Radar is bitten in Mad Dogs and Servicemen, and he once stayed up long into the night searching for Radar’s appendix, a story that is related in Abyssinia, Henry. Henry also feels accountable when, in The Chosen People, a local girl claims Radar is the father of her child - and he has tried to share with his clerk everything he knows about women, a fact later reported by Radar in Dear Mildred.
Meanwhile, Radar tries his best to tend to Henry’s needs and adopts him as a surrogate father. As mentioned above, he seeks physical comfort for Henry when Henry misses the birth of his son in Showtime. He expresses the hope that he and Henry will meet at some future date after the war in Ceasefire. And Radar also arranges a call home after Henry receives a letter from his wife, Lorraine, in Life With Father that leads him to believe she is seeing another man - and quietly gives Henry his handkerchief when the call is prematurely cut short. Henry and Radar are so close during the first three seasons, in fact, that Radar knows about Henry’s snoring, something that is revealed in Crisis. It’s no wonder that Hawkeye once referred to Radar as Henry’s “three foot shadow.”
Henry’s sudden death at the end of the third season is by far the most devastating blow Radar suffers to his innocence, though it is by no means the last. When he delivers the message to the staff in the O.R., he only barely stays upright, and when he leaves, he is absolutely wrecked. The consequences of this single moment are felt even as late as the seventh season when, in Our Finest Hour, Radar is asked what he will remember most about his term in Korea, and Radar responds that Henry’s death - that “very bad day” - is his strongest memory.
After Henry, it takes some time for Radar to adjust to the “regular Army” style of Colonel Sherman Potter. But while Radar never enjoys the same mental synchronicity with Potter than he once shared with Henry, he does become attached to Potter as well - and Potter, for his part, comes to see Radar as a beloved almost-grandson, taking Radar under his wing and, in his own way, trying to pick up where his predecessor left off. Potter looks after Radar when Radar drinks himself into unconsciousness worrying over an injured colonel’s missing weapon in The Gun, taking care to tuck him in with his teddy bear. He also advises Radar to give up the big words and speak from his heart in The Most Unforgettable Characters and gently urges Radar to forgive Hawkeye after their fight in Fallen Idol. Like Henry, Potter takes up the duty of helping Radar through his adolescence, and in return, Radar is willing to do almost anything to make Potter’s life more enjoyable, whether it be obtaining some hard-to-find tomato juice or raising bees for honey. But in truth, my favorite scene between Radar and Potter is delightfully simple and has nothing to do with anything mentioned above: in an adorable scene at the end of The Gun, they accidentally mix up their glasses.
As detailed above, Radar loves both of his commanding officers - but his closest friendship, hands down, is with Hawkeye Pierce. Hawkeye is Radar’s big brother in soul, if not in genetics - and like most loving big brothers, he is always a caring role model, even though, being human, he is not quite a perfect one. He is a fount of advice that is good relatively often, and is willing to do anything - up to and including whitewashing Frank’s butt - in Radar’s defense. This is fortunate, as canon makes it quite clear that Radar, as a soft-hearted teenager, needs a lot of advice and not a little defending.
It is important not to forget, however, that Radar’s devotion to Hawkeye does have a slight - and wholly unintentional - negative impact, for while Hawkeye consistently urges Radar to relax and just be himself, he is also unconsciously sending some very different messages through his own behavior. It is all well and good for Hawkeye to tell his friend to take things at his own pace, but when he chases various skirts about the compound, he also teaches Radar through his example that true heroes are fast.
Still, scenes that are illustrative of the positive influence Hawkeye has on Radar are legion. In Mail Call, for example, Radar comes to Hawkeye for help answering a pen pal’s letter. Ultimately, it is revealed that Radar sent a picture of Hawkeye rather than himself to this young woman. “She wants to know my feelings,” Radar says, “and they gotta sound like the kind that come out of the face of the person I sent her the picture of.” “Radar, you can’t send her my feelings,” Hawkeye replies. “You have to send her yours.” In this way, Hawkeye inspires Radar to come clean. In Hepatitis, meanwhile, when Hawkeye discovers that Radar is questioning his manhood because he can’t bring himself to horse around like the other soldiers, he immediately sets him straight:
"Look, everybody's different, Radar. You're here with a buncha guys you'll probably never see again. You don't have to try to be like them. You know, most people act crazy when they're out of town. But you're different. You always take a little bit of Iowa with you wherever you go. That's nice - don't try to change that. Someday, you'll meet somebody that you'd like to introduce to your mom. And instead of taking advantage of her, you'll offer her a gift you've been working on all your life - yourself."
Leaving Korea
How Radar leaves Korea says almost as much about his character and his relationships as what he did while he was there. For example, Radar may leave his teddy behind, but it is strongly implied that he is still innocent in some Crucial Respects, shall we say, when he goes home in Goodbye, Radar. His hesitance to jump full-bore into I & I in Tokyo (Intercourse and Intoxication) - and the fact that he still feels self-conscious enough to put on a show for his friends back at the 4077th - points to that conclusion. Radar leaves Korea a virgin in defiance of a social code that states that a man must have sex to be a man.
It is also very telling that Radar hesitates before going home. And that hesitation, it should be emphasized, is only partly due to the fear that Klinger will “shamble-ize” his office and his position. Certainly, Radar works hard and has grown very particular about the office routine - in addition to his reaction upon returning from Tokyo, consider how irritated he gets in Commander Pierce when Hawkeye cheerfully ignores the paperwork. But Radar’s biggest fear is that he won’t see his friends ever again. Whenever the subject of post-war plans is broached during the course of the show, who is the one who consistently suggests that members of the unit meet again? Who consistently speaks of post-war lunches and dinners? Radar. As stated above, Radar does not wish for his friendships to be ephemeral.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye, flawed big-brother figure that he is, proves that, though his intentions are always good, he’s not always super-aware of what’s really going on inside Radar. Hollering at Radar that the unit doesn’t need him - not to mention mocking his manhood - are two exactly wrong approaches. They do nothing to demonstrate - effectively - that the 4077th will be okay without Radar, they target one of Radar’s principle character weaknesses (namely, his self-conscious adulthood), and they certainly don’t attempt to assuage Radar’s aforementioned biggest fear. No wonder Radar, who at this point is a little more willing to assert himself, angrily rebels.
Yet even with the strained moments - like the one above - that pepper Radar’s send-off, there is a general feeling that everyone is happy to have known him. Margaret lets down her guard and admits that Radar reminds her of “an old Raggedy Ann doll I had as a kid. I’d kick it, pull out its eyes, yell at it, ignore it - and then when I lost it, I’d cry for days.” Potter tearfully hugs Radar and wishes him well. And Hawkeye salutes his friend for the second time - and Hawkeye never salutes anyone.
Anyone, that is, except Radar.
Links
Celebrating Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly
The Gary Burghoff Fansite @ Best Care Anywhere