How old are the characters supposed to be? I think Radar was mentioned to be 19 and Col. Potter had to be in his 50’s but how old is everyone else?
Based on the books Hawkeye and Trapper had recently graduated medical school. It’s been a long time but I think they may have been interning at hospitals. At some point in the TV show Hot Lips mentions her age because she’s getting old. Klinger was supposed to be a draftee I think, so early 20s at the start of the show.
For what it’s worth, the average age of a GI during WWII (and, I would assume, in Korea, less than a decade later) was 26; in Up Front, Bill Mauldin said that late 20s–early 30s was typical of the Infantry. It should be pointed out that under the draft, there was a lot of variation in age, and it was typical for able-bodied WWII vets to find themselves back in the service. This would explain why the nonmedical personnel in the 4077th ranged from kids like Radar to old hands like Rizzo.
In the case of Medical Corps physicians, doctors with the rank of Captain would probably be in their late 20s–early 30s. Majors like Frank Burns would presumably be bit older, due to their greater medical experience or time in service. Since Col. Potter was a WWI vet (originally in the Cavalry), he would have been in his 50s.
In the movie MASH*, Hot Lips has already made the Army her home, so she would probably have been in her late 20s or early 30s as well. Since she’d also already attained the rank of Major, I would assume the latter.
I think in the case of Henry Blake, his rank of Lt. Col. would have reflected his command position as much as his medical experience, and such posts were often assigned on the basis of other factors as well (e.g., leadership ability).
According to the books, Hawkeye is 31 in 1954 when he gets out of the Army. Trapper is a couple of years older, since he has already passed his thoracic boards.
Once you start adding up the numbers, though, the ages don’t fit.
Frank and Charles were both older than the Hawkeye-Trapper-BJ bracket. Frank had an established practice.
Henry had an established practice, too.
Sherman Potter was an enigma. He supposedly joined the cavalry (as in horses) during WW1, and I believe he mentioned he lied about his age to enlist.
Some time in between world wars, Sherman got out of the army and went to medical school. I think he returned to the military during WW2 as a doctor (not too sure of the facts on this) and then just stayed in to retire.
~VOW
At least in the series, Hawkeye is a WWII veteran or is implied to be.
No he isn’t. He’s a Korean War draftee.
When did that happen? The TV show took a lot of liberties with the story so it wouldn’t surprise me.
If he was born in 1901, he could have lied about his age for WW1, then gone to medical school after. If he joined the army as a doctor in the 1920’s or so, he could have served about 35 years or so by the Korean War. I think he was staying on a little too long for the Korean War, but chose to do so because of how important it was.
The only age I remember being given (other than Radar at 19) was BJ at 28. That was in the first episode that he was on. (Frank had a line “Give me a man when he’s 28…”)
In his debut episode, he was identified as Col. Sherman Potter, USA, meaning he was a professional Army officer (much to the initial dislike of Hawkeye and BJ). While he may have left the service at some point after 1918 and returned to it later, so far as I know there’s no reason he couldn’t have made the Army his career while pursuing a medical degree. After graduating college, he would have become a commissioned officer; with an MD, even the peacetime Army of the 1930s would have been glad to have him.
Which is why they held the ranks of Major and Lt. Col., respectively.
He said he was 15 when he joined the Army - “had big thighs for a boy”.
Another possibility is that he actually received a battlefield commission during WWI. Presumably, he could also have requested a transfer from the Cavalry to the Medical Corps at some point in his military career.
The US entered WWI in 1917, meaning he was probably born in 1902. That would make him, what, 49 in when he took command of the 4077th in 1951?
The great part of the TV show is that it ran for 11 years in a war that lasted 4 years, yet the characters clearly aged 11 years over the course of the show.
Being in a war will do that to you… :rolleyes:
They also got a better rank for enlisting instead of being drafted, I think.
Ah, that is probably about right. He seemed really old in the show, but I think he was only supposed to be mid-50’s or so.
They could have, but I think every one of the 4077 doctors (with the exception of Potter) was a draftee.
According to Harry Morgan’s bio, he was actually 60 (!) when he assumed the role of Potter:
In the episode ‘Pressure Points’, Potter tells Sydney Freedman that he is 63 years old and no longer confident in his ability as a surgeon.