Hawkeye's old friend Tommy Gillis (James T. Callahan) appears at the 4077th. A reporter in civilian life, he is a combat soldier working on a book about life on the front lines called "You Never Hear the Bullet". The book is intended to show how death in battle can be sudden and not surrounded by any prior drama, unlike how it is often depicted in the movies. Tommy leaves for his unit just as wounded arrive at the compound. While operating on a Marine with appendicitis (played by Ron Howard), the doctors remark on how young he looks. Later, recovering in the hospital ward, the Marine asks Hawkeye how soon he can get back to the front and boasts about killing enemy soldiers. Hawkeye discovers that the Marine is in fact only 15 years old, having used his older brother's ID to enlist and go to Korea to win back his ex-girlfriend. Hawkeye gives the Marine some sage advice about women.