Re: MASH, MASH, MASH (was Interest in the Korean War)

[James Robert Dennis III <jrdennis@earthlink.net>]

I remember seeing MASH (the movie) and the MASH TV shows, two entirely 
different shows/scripts.   There is a certain amount of realism in the 
movie version, MASH's had grown at that time to a point where they became 
"unMobile Army Surgical Hospitals". 

Another good film (circa 1954/55) is Battle Circus (as I recall) which 
showed MASH's in the early part of the war, and when there were still 
people who were trained to actually move them from one place to another.  
 Humphry Bogart starred in that one.  
 

>
>In a message dated 1/25/02 12:19:36 PM, martindunne@bigpond.com.au writes:
>
><< I too like the MASH film, although it also has "about as much to do with 
>the
>
>Korean war as square dancing". There are a couple of good sites about the
>
>making of this film.
>
> >>
>
>   I don't agree. The History Channel recently did an hour program on the 
>making of MASH and the old guys they interviewed who were there said that is 
>pretty much the way they remember it. Me too.
>    There isn't anything in that film that didn't have a parallel that I 
>remember, including the football game. Also played golf in Tokyo. And I was 
>also in a mobil squadron. And I played in a rugby game with a couple of days 
>practise, against the University of Niigata in a jam packed Japanese 
>stadium. 
>What an experience and what pageantry.  One I will never forget. They were 
>supposed to be real good and we kicked ass... winning 3 to 2 :-). And the 
>Japanese people seemed to like us. But we probably averaged a foot taller 
>and 
>50 pounds heavier than the Japanese players. Afterwards we all got drunk 
>together at a big party they threw for us. 
>   Of course The movie was made to be entertaining. I guess it depended on 
>your frame of mind and what you were doing. The MASH units saved a lot of 
>lives in Korea. It is hard to believe that at the time it was criticized as 
>being too realistic and "blood and guts" :-) But then we were naive before 
>Vietnam and Oliver Stone.
>
>Ron
>