to see in the finale; that wasn't in it?
I think it would of been good to show clips of Trapper, Frank, Col. Blake, and Radar.
And a good scene would of been to Col. Blakes wife listening to the radio when she hears about the end of the war. She then turns it off, picks up a picture of her husband, and starts crying as she remembers what happened to him.

It's strange you should ask this question, because I've thought about this for a long time . There should have been a scene where Father Mulcahy held a meeting before the goodbye party, and Hawkeye, B . J ., Margaret Houlihan, Major Winchester, Colonel Potter, Klinger, Soon -- Lee, Sergeant Zale, Luther Rizzo, Nurse Kellye Nakahara, and all the other characters would attend .

Father Mulcahy would have read Ecclesiastes 3 : 1 -- 8 ( "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven . A time to be born, and a time to die ..." ) out loud . He would have asked Colonel Potter to read Chief Joseph's surrender speech
( "Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired ; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever ." ) out
loud , Finally, Father Mulcahy would have asked Hawkeye to read the poem "Desiderata" by Max Ehmann ( "Go placidly among the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence ..." ) . It would've been a beautiful scene AND a real tearjerker .

I had to get away from these message boards for a while before I had THIS idea . There should have been a scene where Dr . Daniel Pierce ( Hawkeye's father ) hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Hawkeye gets to come home to Crabapple Cove, a scene where Peg Hunnicutt hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because B . J . gets to come home to Mill Valley, a scene where Sister Mulcahy hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Father Mulcahy gets to come home to the United States, a scene where Charles Emerson Winchester II, Mrs Winchester, and Honoria hear about the end of the war and they're all happy because Major Winchester gets to come home to Boston, a scene where Mildred Potter hears about the end of the war and she's all happy because Colonel Potter gets to come home to Hannibal, Missouri, and a scene where Mr . and Mrs . Klinger hear about the end of the war and thay're all happy because Klinger gets to come home to Toledo .

There could've also been a scene where "Howitzer Al" Houlihan hears about the end of the war and he's all happy because Margaret has a chance to go to a better assignement . When everybody left one by one, they should have shaken Hawkeye's hand before leaving and said to him "Give my best to your father !" .

My original idea was to put a white hairpiece, a white mustache, and a pair of glasses on Alan Alda and make him up to look like an old man so he could play Dr . Daniel Pierce in the series finale . They could have gotten Alan Alda's father, Robert Alda, to play him instead .