Vic leads his squad deep into German-held territory to attempt to intercept the enemy's communications, and takes a recalcitrant soldier (played by Phillip Pine) who speaks German with him for obvious reasons.
Segment's title stems from a birthday cake received by Little John from his mother back home, with instructions "not to open until birthday". Besides the basic urge to stay alive, that's the carrot for his buddies to succeed in this mission, to enjoy a simple, nostalgic pleasure in the midst of the brutal war.
Action is standard -hide from the Germans in the area while still getting close enough to "tap their phone" as it were. Simplistic script has the cowardly Pine hanging over their heads as a distinct liability. He expects to be going home soon on rotation, and his belligerent attitude toward Vic is a familiar plot ploy, given how strong the audience identification with Vic has been established in this series.
Story gimmick is absurd (on purpose) as in a dangerous situation Little John realizes he has left his cake behind and deserts his position to retrieve the precious item. The mission is accomplished without Pine's expertise, but now the focus of the squad is to find Little John and keep him from being shot by a troop of pesky Germans in the area.
On their way back to the lines, VIc receives another mission, temporarily needing to leave badly wounded Pine behind with the promise of coming back to retrieve the self-pitying, Naturally Little John feels bad about what's happened and preditably performs an act of heroism.
Yes, the pointlessness and absurdity of war is displayed, but without the satirical or powerful point-of-view of so many feature films on the subject. Instead, it's just another day in the French countryside (in this case shot on the environs of the famous Korbel winery in Sonoma County, California) for our lovable set of TV characters including one semi-bad apple. The silly, light-hearted ending contradicts what's gone before -a real groaner.