# M\*A\*S\*H hometowns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427 "2005-02-04T20:56:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/1 "2005-02-04T20:56:07Z")
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. [Here’s a list of the characters and their hometowns](http://members.tripod.com/~The_limey/mashpro.htm) So far, I’ve 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? Happy ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/2 "2005-02-04T21:38:17Z")
\*\*Cities I’ve been to:\*\*Bloomington, IL (Blake) Fort Wayne, IN (Burns) Hannibal, MO (Potter) Philadelphia, PA (Mulcahy) **Cities that are close to places I’ve been:** Ft. Ord, CA (Hotlips) (adjacent to Monterey, CA) Mill Valley, CA (BJ) (adjacent to Sausalito, CA) ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/3 "2005-02-04T22:50:10Z")
Hawkeye was from Crabapple Cove, Maine (regardless of a few “Vermont” mistakes in the first season of the TV series. Trapper John was from Boston, Mass (as was Charles) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/4 "2005-02-04T23:07:33Z")
I’ve only been to two… Ft. Ord, CA (Margaret Houlihan), of course base is closed and it’s now home to CSU Monterey Bay Mill Valley, CA (BJ Hunnicut) ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/5 "2005-02-04T23:32:23Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > 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. I’ve been to Hannibal and Bloomington. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/6 "2005-02-04T23:47:59Z")
> [@Julius Henry](#): > > Is there really a Crabapple Cove, ME? I can’t find it with either maps.yahoo or with mapquest. Nope, it’s a pseudonym for Wiscasset ME, where Richard Hooker lives (lived). ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/7 "2005-02-05T00:02:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/8 "2005-02-05T03:11:15Z")
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 8 out of 11. I get around. ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/9 "2005-02-05T06:24:37Z")
The closest I’ve ever been was to Ogden, Utah. A bit of 7 degrees to get there… I worked for a company that owned Winchester. Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester was played by David Ogden Stiers. Ok, it’s the only way I could get in this game! Except there was Toledo, OH and Fort Wayne, IN ---
**Author:** ![mashnut1171](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@mashnut1171](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mashnut1171)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/10 "2016-05-12T20:46:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/11 "2016-05-12T20:54:16Z")
(Thank you **Jonathan Chance** ): 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 ---
**Author:** ![mashnut1171](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@mashnut1171](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mashnut1171)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/12 "2016-05-12T20:55:28Z")
Never mind. In my excitement, I misread the name. It’s Cranberry Island… ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/13 "2016-05-12T21:03:17Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/14 "2016-05-12T21:05:22Z")
> [@mashnut1171](#): > > Never mind. In my excitement, I misread the name. It’s Cranberry Island… That’s ok. In the books Trapper and his wife like to “romp” on a blanket in the cranberry bogs. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/15 "2016-05-12T21:53:35Z")
The two from Boston plus Phillie for days at a time. Drive thru Toledo. Skirted Mill Valley on 101. Might not have been all that close to 101 when I went thru. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/16 "2016-05-12T22:59:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/17 "2016-05-12T23:54:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/18 "2016-05-13T00:53:10Z")
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] ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/19 "2016-05-13T02:08:26Z")
Ever been to Tony Packos for a hotdog in Toledo? Or Adams’ Ribs in Chicago? I’m not sure if Adam’s Ribs is/was a real joint or not, but I know Tony Packos is. [http://www.tonypacko.com](http://www.tonypacko.com) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427/20 "2016-05-13T02:27:54Z")
Tony Packo has some \*\*great \*\*pickles and relishes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-hometowns/288427.md?page=2)