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In this landmark episode, Hawkeye (Alan Alda) writes his first letter home to his father, telling all about Christmas at the 4077th. The episodes recounted in the letter run the gamut from hilarity (a monthly sex lecture delivered by Henry Blake [McLean Stevenson], Hawkeye and Trapper [Wayne Rogers] sabotaging the tent occupied by Hot Lips [Loretta Swit]), to resourcefulness (Radar [Gary Burghoff] ships a jeep to the States piecemeal) to pathos (one birth, too many deaths). Things come to a poignantly amusing climax when Hawkeye plays Santa Claus -- right on the firing line! "Dear Dad" first aired on December 17, 1972.