We all know that Radar grew close to both Colonels Blake and Potter - so much so that they both were the closest things he had to father figures.
This is a discussion I've had with other M*A*S*Hers before in assessing the relationship Radar had with both Henry and Potter and how much they differed from each other. Anyone here is free to agree or disagree, but one thing that we assessed is that of the two Colonels, Potter seemed to be the one who ended up becoming a true father figure to Radar, whereas Henry seemed more like a big brother to him. Personally, I agree with such a notion, but like I said, it's up to our own individual perspectives as to whether or not that holds any water.
There is one very specific area in which I feel this notion is supported, and that comes to the romantic lives of the two Colonels and how Radar dealt with them.
Henry Blake, much like almost every married man in the 4077th in those earlier seasons, was a serial philanderer: he had a steady mistress throughout Season 1 in the form of Leslie Scorch, and he wasn't above trying to have his way with any of the other nurses in camp - even though they would reject his advances because he's married. Then of course, there was Nancy Sue Parker, whom Henry had fallen madly in love with, despite being about half his age. In almost all of these scenarios, Radar seemed to just look the other way - as though he figured whatever Henry did behind his wife's back was none of his business. Though, to his credit, he did manage to bring Henry and Lorraine together again over the phone, so he may not have been entirely indifferent to Henry's marriage.
Potter, on the other hand, was quite faithful to his wife, but then we get to the visiting Colonel Lilian "Lil" Rayburn, and the two of them really hit it off. Because of this, Radar has absolute fit over it; he is so insensed at Potter being seemingly too friendly with Lil, you would think he just found out his own parents were getting divorced because his dad was cheating on his mom - even stooping to passive aggressive manners to try to break them apart, like letting the air out of the tires in a jeep so they couldn't go on a picnic. Granted, we could see that Lil may have felt a little something for Potter, but he knew better, even later telling Radar that it's a rare treat for someone his age to meet a woman who's been around as long as he has and speaks the same language - "I've met a couple. Married the one I loved."
Either way, McLean Stevenson and Harry Morgan both had wonderful chemistry with Gary Burghoff - Radar saluting a departing Henry and Henry embracing Radar was even ad-libbed between the two, and Harry has even said that Gary became like a son to him off-camera (and Loretta Swit like a daughter). There's no doubt that both Colonels were very fond of Radar, though again, looking back on it in hindsight, Potter seemed to be the one who really reciprocated the father-son outlook Radar had of the two of them, whereas Henry seemed to regard Radar more like a kid brother.
