This is the episode where Hawkeye returns from Tokyo to find that Trapper has left without the chance to say goodbye to him. Hawkeye steals a jeep with Radar and drives up the the army headquarters where Trapper was leaving from. In the shot where they first arrive at the base camp, you can hear a voice over a loudspeaker. It's about 16 and a half minutes into the episode.

The voice sounds just like Trapper. Has anyone else noticed this?

I hadn't noticed that. Just to clarify Hawkeye and Radar did not steal a jeep (although later in the episode it was stolen from them forcing them to steal a general's jeep for the return trip). Major Burns authorized Radar to take a jeep and go to Kimpo Airbase and pick up Trapper John's replacement Captain B.J. Hunnicut. He didn't authorize Hawkeye to with Radar so Hawkeye was technically AWOL. Hawkeye was hoping to get to Kimpo in time to say good-bye to Trapper but he missed him by 10 minutes. 10 lousy minutes.

I hadn't noticed that. Just to clarify Hawkeye and Radar did not steal a jeep (although later in the episode it was stolen from them forcing them to steal a general's jeep for the return trip). Major Burns authorized Radar to take a jeep and go to Kimpo Airbase and pick up Trapper John's replacement Captain B.J. Hunnicut. He didn't authorize Hawkeye to with Radar so Hawkeye was technically AWOL. Hawkeye was hoping to get to Kimpo in time to say good-bye to Trapper but he missed him by 10 minutes. 10 lousy minutes.

Talk about your zero closure. We as audience get none with Trapper and our main character get none either. You think they would have wrapped it up a little nicer/kinder than that.(Especially after just killing off Henry)

So Hawkeye doesn't get to say goodbye and onto of that he's stuck in Korea for another 8 years!
Man, that was one long war.
;)

Talk about your zero closure. We as audience get none with Trapper and our main character get none either. You think they would have wrapped it up a little nicer/kinder than that.(Especially after just killing off Henry)

So Hawkeye doesn't get to say goodbye and onto of that he's stuck in Korea for another 8 years!
Man, that was one long war.
;)
The reason they had to do it that way is that Wayne Rogers decided to leave the series during the hiatus between season 3 and season 4. So the first opportunity they had to address the issue of Trapper John leaving the 4077th was episode 1 of season 4 by which time Wayne Rogers was no longer in the cast. So they had to write out the character in such a way that his departure was not seen on screen. With MacLean Stevenson they knew he was leaving at the end of season three so they were able to write a farewell episode for Henry Blake.

The reason they had to do it that way is that Wayne Rogers decided to leave the series during the hiatus between season 3 and season 4. So the first opportunity they had to address the issue of Trapper John leaving the 4077th was episode 1 of season 4 by which time Wayne Rogers was no longer in the cast. So they had to write out the character in such a way that his departure was not seen on screen. With MacLean Stevenson they knew he was leaving at the end of season three so they were able to write a farewell episode for Henry Blake.

I do understand that. I just wish they didn't have to make it that Hawkeye was chasing him down and didn't get to say goodbye.
I also understand that is to mirror our situation as the viewer.

Still, it would have just been nice for them to have explained away Trap where Hawkeye wasn't left cold again. (after losing Henry).

The reason they had to do it that way is that Wayne Rogers decided to leave the series during the hiatus between season 3 and season 4. So the first opportunity they had to address the issue of Trapper John leaving the 4077th was episode 1 of season 4 by which time Wayne Rogers was no longer in the cast. So they had to write out the character in such a way that his departure was not seen on screen. With MacLean Stevenson they knew he was leaving at the end of season three so they were able to write a farewell episode for Henry Blake.

I wonder if they really knew in advance (before the hiatus) that Wayne Rogers was not going to return for the next season. If they had, it would have been awkward to have both characters leaving at the exact same time. So, it makes sense that if that were the case, they could have written an interesting story in the first episode of season 4 about Hawkeye getting upset at his sudden and mysterious disappearance, which they decided to handle as such.

That would have been a lot easier than writing an episode featuring a "last farewell", whether at the end of season 3 or beginning of season 4. They just couldn't do 2 farewells at the same time, could they? So maybe it was all planned that way.

That's what I suspect happened, IMO.

In the recent book about MASH, Larry Gelbart was quoted as saying that Wayne Rogers' possible return for Season 4 was still up in the air when production wrapped at the end of Season 3, so that's why Trapper never got a goodbye episode. In fact, the episode introducing BJ was written and produced after the episode introducing Col. Potter, so Mike Farrell's first filmed MASH episode was actually "Change of Command", while the hour-long episode introducing BJ ("Welcome to Korea") was still being written & planned.

Talk about your zero closure. We as audience get none with Trapper and our main character get none either. You think they would have wrapped it up a little nicer/kinder than that.(Especially after just killing off Henry)
...
;)

"Radar, put a mask on!" That was the last line that Trapper had on the series.

Trapper John had a farewell episode (of sorts) earlier in the season when he learned that his duodenal ulcer was reason for discharge from the army.

Of course, towards the end of the episode, Trapper learned that the army changed that and that his options were to go to Tokyo for treatment and end up reassigned to another unit or to get his treatment at the 4077th.