# Embarassingly obvious question about M\*A\*S\*H
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 18, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253 "2016-07-18T21:07:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/21 "2016-07-19T14:30:40Z")
Actually, the book was written by Hornberger. Heinz merely revised and tightened it.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/22 "2016-07-19T15:03:17Z")
Nobody asked but I’ll say it anyway. In real life there were MASH units. Like other military acronyms there were no periods or asterisks between letters. I guess that was a marketing thing. MASH units were deactivated throughout the 90s as part of restructuring with the last one going away in 2006. They were replaced by Combat Support Hospitals. And yes CSH is pronounced “Cash.”
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/23 "2016-07-19T15:18:16Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> In real life there were MASH units. Like other military acronyms there were no periods or asterisks between letters
I liked the Navy ‘acronyms’. When I was a dependent I had a sticker on my motorcycle for Fleet Anti-Submarine Training Center, Pacific. It was FLEASWTRACENPAC.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/24 "2016-07-19T15:22:22Z")
“Did you really call a one-star general a NINCOMPAC?”
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/25 "2016-07-19T15:39:32Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> Nobody asked but I’ll say it anyway. In real life there were MASH units. Like other military acronyms there were no periods or asterisks between letters. I guess that was a marketing thing. MASH units were deactivated throughout the 90s as part of restructuring with the last one going away in 2006. They were replaced by Combat Support Hospitals. And yes CSH is pronounced “Cash.”
My one-time primary care physician worked in a MASH unit in Nam. He was certifiably crazy. I kind of liked that. Very humanizing.
Except once when he checked for hemorrhoids and told me, “you’re as clean as a homosexual’s wet dream.” Exact quote.
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/26 "2016-07-19T15:51:15Z")
Okay, there was the original novel, the film, the TV series, and the series of books that followed the original book.
The film pretty much followed the book. There were some omissions but that’s standard whenever a book is is reduced to a 90 minute film.
The TV series started out based on the novel/film but went off on many tangents. Many characters from the novel never appeared. And many new characters were created.
The series of novels (M_A_S_H Goes To [name of city/state/country] was based on the original novel and after "M_A_S_H Goes to Maine" became more and more humorous novels about increasingly cartoonish characters.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/27 "2016-07-19T16:49:30Z")
Don’t forget “After MASH.”
Lord knows I wish I could.
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### Author:  [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/28 "2016-07-19T17:30:37Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> “Hawkeye” because his father only read one book. It’s a nickname, by the way. He’s Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce.
>
> “Trapper John” because… oh, never mind.
And for B. J. Hunnicutt, the B. J. means… oh, never mind.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/29 "2016-07-19T18:31:30Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#):
>
> Okay, there was the original novel, the film, the TV series, and the series of books that followed the original book.
>
> The film pretty much followed the book. There were some omissions but that’s standard whenever a book is is reduced to a 90 minute film.
>
> The TV series started out based on the novel/film but went off on many tangents. Many characters from the novel never appeared. And many new characters were created.
Much of the series and some of the book were inspired by the memories of Lt. Dale Drake and his wife Cathy (née McDonough). The two met while at the 8055[sup]th[/sup] with Hornberger. Cathy was a nurse and Dale an anesthesiologist, and the inspiration for “Ugly John” Black.
According to Drake, Trapper John was based on Jim Dickson, a surgeon with a penchant for wearing a parka and nursing a beer when not on duty. Head Nurse Ruth Dixon at least partly inspired “Hot Lips”.
Max Klinger may have spawned from one of the stories the pair related to co-creator Gene Reynolds, that of an otherwise shy and straight-laced doctor named Hall [who dressed up one Halloween as Marilyn Monroe](https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/1b41937cdb.jpg).
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### Author:  [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/30 "2016-07-19T18:35:47Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> Max Klinger may have spawned from one of the stories the pair related to co-creator Gene Reynolds, that of an otherwise shy and straight-laced doctor named Hall [who dressed up one Halloween as Marilyn Monroe](https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/1b41937cdb.jpg).
Maybe that was all Klinger was supposed to do. According to Jaime Farr on one of the reunion shows, he was only supposed to have a bit part on one show and (paraphrased) ‘ended up staying for 11 years’.
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### Author:  [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/31 "2016-07-20T00:05:26Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#):
>
> The series of novels (M_A_S_H Goes To [name of city/state/country] was based on the original novel and after "M_A_S_H Goes to Maine" became more and more humorous novels about increasingly cartoonish characters.
Richard Hooker/Hornberger wrote the first three books (_MASH_, _MASH Goes to Maine_ and _MASH Mania_). Hooker himself appears in the third book as the narrator.
All the following ones were credited as by Hooker and William Butterworth, though in fact they were written solely by Butterworth. YMMV, but I prefer the non-Butterworth ones.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/32 "2016-07-20T00:18:30Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#):
>
> And for B. J. Hunnicutt, the B. J. means… oh, never mind.
Heh, heh. 😃
B. J. claimed he was named after his parents, Bea and Jay, although he might have been having some fun at Hawkeye’s expense.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/33 "2016-07-20T00:33:50Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> B. J. claimed he was named after his parents, Bea and Jay, although he might have been having some fun at Hawkeye’s expense.
Hawkeye was surprised to find his official recorded name was B J Hunnicutt… but in that era and many others, the Army used the notation (only) after given initials. So his papers and dog tags would have read “B (only) J (only) Hunnicutt.”
OTOH, supposedly J R Cash was told “Initials only aren’t allowed” and enlisted as John R. Cash. Could have been different recruiters, a slightly different policy a few years later, maybe Air Force rules via old Army rules, anything.
Fun fact: Airman John R. Cash was the first westerner to hear of Stalin’s death.
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### Author:  [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/34 "2016-07-20T00:39:22Z")
> [@MacSpon](#):
>
> All the following ones were credited as by Hooker and William Butterworth, though in fact they were written solely by Butterworth. YMMV, but I prefer the non-Butterworth ones.
Butterworth is best known by a pen name, W. E. B. Griffin, author of a great many popular military novels.
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### Author:  [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/35 "2016-07-20T01:31:12Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Hawkeye was surprised to find his official recorded name was B J Hunnicutt… but in that era and many others, the Army used the notation (only) after given initials. So his papers and dog tags would have read “B (only) J (only) Hunnicutt.”
>
> OTOH, supposedly J R Cash was told “Initials only aren’t allowed” and enlisted as John R. Cash. Could have been different recruiters, a slightly different policy a few years later, maybe Air Force rules via old Army rules, anything.
>
> Fun fact: Airman John R. Cash was the first westerner to hear of Stalin’s death.
Can you imagine Hawkeye calling his roommate “Bonly Jonly Hunnicutt”? :eek:
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/36 "2016-07-20T03:22:17Z")
> [@MacSpon](#):
>
> Richard Hooker/Hornberger wrote the first three books (_MASH_, _MASH Goes to Maine_ and _MASH Mania_). Hooker himself appears in the third book as the narrator.
>
> All the following ones were credited as by Hooker and William Butterworth, though in fact they were written solely by Butterworth. YMMV, but I prefer the non-Butterworth ones.
I’ve read all the Hooker ones, and only one of the Butterworth ones, and the Butterworth ones are really for people who like the TV show more than the movie. Hawkeye in the Hooker books is nothing like the Alan Alda version.
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### Author:  [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/37 "2016-07-20T06:15:53Z")
For me an obvious question about M_A_S\*H was when my son asked me “Do you like MASH because you are a nurse, or are you a nurse because you liked MASH?” The answer is neither. One did not influence the other, although I did use a clip from “Goodbye Farewell and Amen” in a Nursing Professions presentation back in school. Maybe if my graduating nursing school depended on that presentation the answer would be different.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/38 "2016-07-20T14:26:06Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#):
>
> Can you imagine Hawkeye calling his roommate “Bonly Jonly Hunnicutt”? :eek:
I first heard of this practice from a professor who’d served in WWII and had a bunkmate named “Ronly Bonly Jones.”
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/39 "2016-07-20T15:03:40Z")
Yeah, ole Ronly Bonly definitely got around back in the day!
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarassingly-obvious-question-about-m-a-s-h/760253/40 "2016-07-20T15:59:58Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> Yeah, ole Ronly Bonly definitely got around back in the day!
You’re thinking of Ronly Bonly _Johnson_, I think.
Or in the words of Bill Mauldin, [“Yep, this is the town my pappy tole me about.”](http://images55.fotki.com/v509/photos/2/292835/4670962/BillMaul14-vi.jpg)
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