It has been delightful through the years to laugh at the fictional military bungles by the likes of Sgt. Bilko, the inept American frontier F Troop and the prisoner of war troublemakers of Hogan’s Heroes.

But one of the latest blunders by our military is horribly frightening and should cause a shudder down the spines of all Americans: Nuclear warheads were carried above us for several hours by mistake.

A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last month. Naturally, there was an Air Force investigation, and one commander has been fired, as that leader, and probably others, should have been.

The incident was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed about the peril, and Gates asked for a thorough airing of this perilous bit of poor performance.

It is somewhat reassuring to hear that “at no time was the public in danger.” Helpful, if true. U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the mishandling of the weapons “deeply disturbing” and promised pressure for details.

The plane was carrying advanced cruise missiles from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Aug. 30. The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber’s wings. Why they were there is apparently anyone’s guess, but heads should roll, and some intense briefings of other commanders and their personnel are in order.

“There is no more serious issue than the security and proper handling of weapons,” Skelton said in a massive understatement. Suddenly there are spine-tingling thoughts of poor handling of such weapons leading to their acquisition by terrorists who would put the public in danger.

How about some anger and harsh rhetoric by both the Air Force and elected officials, not to mention the public, which should be shocked and angry?

Sgt. Bilko, F Troop and the Hogan boys were funny because their antics were so improbable. This was not fiction. This nuclear warhead situation might lead to some kind of humorous recounting some day, but it’s not very funny today.