# Could army doctors actually get away with Hawkeye-like behavior? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585 "2010-11-22T21:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/61 "2010-11-26T23:42:05Z")
I remember one episode where some high up muckety muck (possibly the crazy general played by Harry Morgan before he was Col. Potter) ordered the 4077 to pick up and move closer to the front. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/62 "2010-11-26T23:47:36Z")
They showed a bugout at least once. That’s enough for me to establish the premise. After all, the show didn’t purport to document every damn day of the existence of the 4077th in Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/63 "2010-11-27T02:07:17Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > [Obituary, story, photo of MASH doctor.](http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/107266658.html) The photo album in the article from the MASH unit in Korea really does look like the TV show. I really liked the show, but for some reason had it in my head that they kinda half-assed the historical stuff. Even the scenery looks kinda similar, despite the show being filmed in the States (CA?). I guess it makes sense, since a decent chunk of the shows audience would probably have actual memories of the Korean war. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/64 "2010-11-27T02:30:33Z")
On the subject of bug-outs, there was also an episode where the dirt floor is causing problems with infections, but the army won’t agree to pour a cement floor for them, because they’re supposed to be mobile. They end up getting their floor through the black market. The episode strongly implied (if not out-right stated) that the 4077th was largely mobile in name only - they’d been at that location for some time, and were unlikely to move any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/65 "2010-11-27T03:57:18Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > I saw an interview with Robert Mandan once where he describes talking to actual MASH surgeon for research… I remember a “the making of _M_A_S_H\*” kind of behind-the-scenes show. One of the producers half-jokingly said that, by the time the show finished its run, they had talked to virtually every ex-MASH doctor in the U.S., asking for anecdotes and funny stories that could be adapted for TV. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/66 "2010-11-27T04:32:07Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Even the scenery looks kinda similar, despite the show being filmed in the States (CA?). Psst…see post #57. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/67 "2010-11-27T04:32:41Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > They showed a bugout at least once. That’s enough for me to establish the premise. After all, the show didn’t purport to document every damn day of the existence of the 4077th in Korea. Imagine how long the show would’ve lasted had they done that. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/68 "2010-11-27T17:13:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > On the subject of bug-outs, there was also an episode where the dirt floor is causing problems with infections, but the army won’t agree to pour a cement floor for them, because they’re supposed to be mobile. They end up getting their floor through the black market. The episode strongly implied (if not out-right stated) that the 4077th was largely mobile in name only - they’d been at that location for some time, and were unlikely to move any time soon. When they did move, they always moved back eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/69 "2010-11-27T23:29:43Z")
[Therough most of the war, they would have probably stayed put.](http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/kowar/kowar.htm) > [@](#): > > By the middle of 1951, the front lines had stabilized near where the war started twelve months earlier. Negotiations began amid hopes that an early truce could be arranged. But this took two more frustrating years, during which the contending forces fought on, with the U.S. Navy providing extensive air and gunfire support, a constant amphibious threat, relentless minesweeping and a large logistics effort. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/70 "2010-11-28T20:30:13Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I remember one episode where some high up muckety muck (possibly the crazy general played by Harry Morgan before he was Col. Potter) ordered the 4077 to pick up and move closer to the front. And in an episode where Harry Morgan as Col. Potter goes on leave in Tokyo leaving Frank Burns in charge, Burns orders the 4077th to move across the road… and a few days later orders it back to its original position. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/71 "2010-11-28T20:54:23Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I have a somewhat related question. > > I always got the impression that Henry Blake didn’t want to be there any more than Haykeye and Trapper did. He was a generally ineffectual leader, didn’t appear to have a military background, and was elated when he got his discharge. > So why was he a Colonel in charge of an Army unit? Maybe the book explains this better? Book Blake was Regular Army, and he wasn’t incompetent at anything other than keeping Hawkeye et al under control. TV Blake and TV Burns are nothing at all like their book counterparts, actually. The movie gets them closer to the book, and as a result, not nearly so funny, IMHO, and yet more believable in an Army officer sense. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585/72 "2010-11-30T13:39:37Z")
The book is a must read. Says the Pro from Dover. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-army-doctors-actually-get-away-with-hawkeye-like-behavior/561585.md?page=3)