Right now I’m working in Ottumwa, IA-- hometown of Radar O’Reilly-- and it got me thinking about other hometowns of MASH characters. So I did a little searching to find out where the other characters were from, to see how many of the towns I’ve actually been to.
Bloomington, IL (Henry Blake) Fort Wayne, IN (Frank Burns) Ottumwa, IA (Radar O’Reilly) Toledo, OH (Max Klinger)
Only four. And I’m pretty much stuck in the Midwest. I’m sure other wider-travelled Dopers’ll have me beat.
BTW, how were these towns picked? Writers’ hometowns? Actors’ hometowns? Arbitrary?
The hometowns of Hawkeye and Radar were from the novel. Also in the novel, Trapper came from Winchester, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. McLean Stevenson was from Bloomington, IL (well, actually from Normal, but that’s about the same thing). Jamie Farr is from Toledo.
Is there really a Crabapple Cove, ME? I can’t find it with either maps.yahoo or with mapquest.
There is no Crabapple Cove. There is a Muscongus Bay, which, in one episode, Hawkeye calls “home”. I always figured Crabapple Cove was supposed to be Bremen, ME. Wiscasset isn’t on Muscongus Bay, at any rate. (The author’s real name is Richard Hornberger, btw). It was my understanding that Hornberger lived and practiced in Bremen prior to the war, and then set up shop in Waterville after the war.
Hawkeye: Crabapple Cover, ME - No
Trapper John: Boston, MA - Yes
Henry Blake: Bloomington, IL - Yes
Frank Burns: Fort Wayne, IN - Yes
Hotlips: Fort Ord, CA - No
Radar: Ottumwa, IA - Yes
Sherman Potter: Hannibal, MO - Yes
BJ Hunnicutt: Mill Valley, CA - No
Charles Winchester: Boston, MA - Yes
Klinger: Toledo, OH - Yes
Father Mulcahy: Philadelphia, PA - Yes
I found Crabapple cove! I think… The author supposedly lived on Muscongus Bay. There is an island in Muscongus Bay named Crabapple Island. This island has a ‘cove’. Thus, Crabapple Island Cove. Voila! Just type Muscongus Bay into Google Earth, and it will take you there. Just drag the map downward, and the island will appear.
Hawkeye: Crabapple Cover, ME - No, but have been to Wicasset
Trapper John: Boston, MA - Yes
Henry Blake: Bloomington, IL - Yes, if driving through counts as “been there”.
Frank Burns: Fort Wayne, IN - No
Hotlips: Fort Ord, CA - No
Radar: Ottumwa, IA - No
Sherman Potter: Hannibal, MO - Yes
BJ Hunnicutt: Mill Valley, CA - No
Charles Winchester: Boston, MA - Yes
Klinger: Toledo, OH - Yes, if driving through counts as…
Father Mulcahy: Philadelphia, PA - Yes
Hawkeye: Crabapple Cover, ME - No
Trapper John: Boston, MA - Yes
Henry Blake: Bloomington, IL - No
Frank Burns: Fort Wayne, IN - Yes
Hotlips: Fort Ord, CA - No
Radar: Ottumwa, IA - No
Sherman Potter: Hannibal, MO - No
BJ Hunnicutt: Mill Valley, CA - Only driven through
Charles Winchester: Boston, MA - Yes
Klinger: Toledo, OH - Yes
Father Mulcahy: Philadelphia, PA - Yes
I work for the Mill Valley Film Festival, so have logged tons of time there.
Also been to Fort Ord, Boston, and Philly, and while I haven’t been to the other hometowns, I’ve been to every state represented in that list except Iowa.
My mom is from Fort Wayne, but left to CA decades ago - she lives just below Ft Ord. But maybe 25 years ago she was home as her mother’s illness became terminal.
While at the hospital in Fort Wayne, she swears she heard a woman over the intercom ask for “Dr Burns; Dr Frank Burns”. She was not in a humorous mood given the circumstances but hard not to chuckle.
Slight hijack: when Murder She Wrote was still a fairly new show, my friend asked me if Hawkeye Pierce was from the same hometown as Jessica Fletcher (Cabot Cove, ME). “If that’s true, then they just gotta mention a crazy old Doctor Pierce!”
“No, kiddo,” says I. “Jessica lives in CABOT Cove. Hawkeye was from CRABAPPLE Cove.”
[/hijack]
