# M\*A\*S\*H question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100 "2012-11-15T16:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**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 19, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/81 "2012-11-19T16:01:16Z")
My understanding is that Lebanese-Americans were almost entirely Christian until the 1960s. Without concrete evidence otherwise, it’s likely that Klinger is Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/82 "2012-11-19T16:11:51Z")
It would be nothing for MASH to suddenly have Klinger be Moslem, but it would have been the kind of thing they exploited in the show for it to make sense. However I could see a Lebanese-American like Klinger having some Moslem relatives, so it might not be out of the realm of possibility to have the character bring up the subject of Allah. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/83 "2012-11-19T16:30:27Z")
“Frank Burns is a worm.” ---
**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:** [November 19, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/84 "2012-11-19T16:34:30Z")
That’s _eats worms_. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/85 "2012-11-19T16:46:06Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > That’s _eats worms_. “You tell 'em ferret face.” ---
**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 19, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/86 "2012-11-19T20:42:39Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > My understanding is that Lebanese-Americans were almost entirely Christian until the 1960s. Without concrete evidence otherwise, it’s likely that Klinger is Catholic. Or was joking. My all-time favorite ep was when they find and watch the silent home movie from Frank’s wedding. The voiceovers Hawkeye & Co. provide were wet-your-pants funny. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/87 "2012-11-19T20:43:51Z")
Personally, I think it best to assume that the pilot, every season, and the finale are all set in a different parallel universe. In season 1 universe, he was about 30 years old in 1950. In season 11 universe, he was about 45 years old in 1953. In one universe he was a WW2 vet, in another he wasn’t. No contradiction, because they are separate continuities. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/88 "2012-11-19T20:50:11Z")
Also, Sidney Freedman has a twin brother, Milton. ---
**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 19, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/89 "2012-11-19T20:57:34Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > “You tell 'em ferret face.” “You can put _that_ in your obsidian pipe and smoke it!” ---
**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:** [November 19, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/90 "2012-11-19T21:10:22Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Highly unlikely. One would expect that at some point he would have referred to his WWII service explicitly. In the season 3 episode “The Consultant”, Hawkeye excoriates Dr. Borelli for getting drunk when he’s supposed to be performing delicate surgery. Borelli retorts: “I wish you better luck on your third war.” If this were really Hawkeye’s third war, I would have expected a retort instead of stunned stillness. > [@Irishman](#): > > Um, it’s Hawkeye’s second war, Borelli wishes him luck on his _third_ war. Kinda a moment of “damn, there’s gonna be another one? This one ain’t over yet.” I think the context of the sentence depends on which word Bortelli emphasizes. “I wish you better luck on \*your \*third war,” means that Bortelli is on \*his \*third war, and it’s entirely irrelevant what war Hawkeye is on. Basically, Bortelli is saying ‘I wish you better luck than I’ve had once you reach the number of wars I’ve been in. Now let me do what I came to do and STFU.’ “I wish you better luck on your \*third \*war,” means that Hawkeye is on his second war, Bortelli knows this, and is wishing him better luck on the next one. I tend to believe it’s the former. I just don’t think Hawkeye was in WWII. Korea was his first war. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/91 "2012-11-19T21:15:16Z")
If Hawkeye was in WWII he would have talked about it a lot. He discussed every other aspect of his life ad nauseum. Something like WWII would have had more than just one indirect reference. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_E.Nixon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@Richard\_E.Nixon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_E.Nixon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/92 "2012-11-20T00:47:32Z")
No way was Hawkeye in WWII. I’ve seen every episode of M_A_S\*H many times and never seen anything to even imply that. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/93 "2012-11-29T15:03:39Z")
> [@Richard\_E.Nixon](#): > > No way was Hawkeye in WWII. I’ve seen every episode of M_A_S\*H many times and never seen anything to even imply that. Have you been reading this thread? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/94 "2012-11-29T15:05:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If Hawkeye was in WWII he would have talked about it a lot. He discussed every other aspect of his life ad nauseum. Something like WWII would have had more than just one indirect reference. There were multiple such references and war stories do not really play well in a war zone. Plus I think Potter had the market covered. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100/95 "2012-11-29T15:37:03Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > There were multiple such references and war stories do not really play well in a war zone. Plus I think Potter had the market covered. Where are all these references? Talking about past war experiences is part of the war experience. I still contend Hawkeye would have talked of this often and very directly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h-question/641100.md?page=4)