# The bullying of Frank Burns in M\*A\*S\*H
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted
**Created:** [October 6, 2020, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329 "2020-10-06T10:53:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 14
### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/261 "2025-10-28T00:00:42Z")
Weird, I just got done watching it.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/262 "2025-10-28T00:59:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> > [@fedman1](#):
> >
> > wasn’t there an episode where BJ danced with her?
>
> I have no memory of BJ dancing with her.
It was Trapper who danced with Ginger. MeTV recently showed the episode.
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### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/263 "2025-10-28T01:18:47Z")
thanks, old age memory loss. was it Ginger that Burns scolded?
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/264 "2025-10-28T01:28:41Z")
Welcome to the Dope, @AnnieOkie !
Funny this thread got zombified as I’m in the middle of re-watching the series.
I recently saw the episode in which Margaret gets engaged, kicks Frank to the curb, and unceasingly throws her engagement in his face.
It gets so bad that Hawkeye and BJ actually feel bad for him and call Margaret out for being cruel. At the end of the episode, the three of them even share a laugh together when Frank gets a good zinger in.
I thought, damn, that would have been a great pivot point to start humanizing Frank a bit and allow his character to develop. Of course they didn’t. A missed opportunity.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/265 "2025-10-28T01:50:03Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> Guys and gals, if you can give me her character’s name or describe a single b-plot this character was in (no Googleing, honor system), you win this thread:
I remember Trapper dancing with her in one episode; more importantly I remember an episode where Hawkeye and Trapper dyed the skin of a bigoted soldier who didn’t want a transfusion of African-American blood. The soldier snapped at Ginger, and she said something to the effect of. “I don’t care if you’re passing (for white), I’m a lieutenant and you’ll treat me like one.”
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/266 "2025-10-28T01:53:22Z")
> [@fedman1](#):
>
> was it Ginger that Burns scolded?
Yep. Very first episode.
> Frank: I don’t want a Kelly clamp, Lieutenant!
>
> Ginger: But that’s what you asked for.
>
> Frank: Give me what I want, not what I asked for!
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/267 "2025-10-28T14:31:33Z")
> [@fedman1](#):
>
> thanks, old age memory loss. was it Ginger that Burns scolded?
Seems likely. This is a man who calls the enemy “crafty yellow demons”. Race relations are not his strong suit.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/268 "2025-10-28T14:35:09Z")
Frank would make that kind of comment to any nurse, regardless of race. I’m not saying Frank wasn’t racist (who wasn’t in 1951?) but he was an equal opportunity asshole.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/269 "2025-10-28T15:50:24Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> he was an equal opportunity asshole.
With rampant paranoia.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/270 "2025-10-28T21:33:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Seems likely. This is a man who calls the enemy “crafty yellow demons”.
And the allies, too. There was at least one episode where he took up arms against a South Korean soldier.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2025, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/271 "2025-10-28T22:59:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> There was at least one episode where he took up arms against a South Korean soldier.
In one episode, he tackles a high ranking South Korean officer in the mess tent because Radar had encountered a North Korean in there earlier.
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