This story was inspired by William Christopher's own bout with Hepatitis, which caused him to miss several episodes.
When Hawkeye is examining Frank Burns, Frank is running through a list of his ailments.
Frank says, "I do have a pea-sized tumor under my sternum." Larry Linville, who played Frank, did in fact die many years later from a malignant tumor under his sternum.
A headline in Hawkeye's newspaper reads, "Giant Plane Found. All Aboard Safe."
During the surgery on the man injured in the tank B.J. says he is connecting the Ileum to the esophagus. This would not only leave the patient without a stomach (as BJ and Potter states, the shell had taken out the patient's stomach), but since the Ileum is the last segment of the small intestine would leave the man with no ability to digest or absorb food and nutrients.
When leaving the Swamp, Hawkeye (Alan Alda) states "No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" This is a quote made by the White Rabbit (Bill Thompson) in the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland (1951). This line does not appear in the original work by Lewis Carroll.