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End of an Era
Apr. 11th, 2006 08:08 amThe US Army has brought an end to one of its best-loved units as the last MASH field hospital folded up its khaki tents for good. MASH stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (as if you didn't know), but after decades of repeats it has come to symbolise the funny side of the US military. The final installment of M*A*S*H in 1983 is the most watched TV episode in US history.
The last real-life MASH passed away with far less fanfare last month, when the 84 bed field hospital was formally handed over to the Pakistani Government, after four months of providing relief for the victims of last October's earthquake.
When MASH units first began at the end of WWII, they were revolutionary. They were whole hospitals, complete with well-equipped operating theatres, set up under canvas just behind the front lines. Their proximity to the fighting, together with the use of helicopter evacuations in Korea, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War, saved thousands of soldiers' lives. In Korea, a seriously wounded soldier who made it to a MASH alive had a 97% chance of survival. Americas last MASH in South Korea was cosed down nine years ago. The army now prefers smaller, more agile medial units, known as combat support hospitals, which can travel to casualties on the front line.
The last of the old breed, the 212th MASH, based in Germany, was the first US military hospital established in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, but was then transferred to Pakistan after last year's earthquake. US medical units treated more than 30,000 civilian victims of the disaster.
The M*A*S*H legend was created by a former army surgeon, Richard Hornberger, who wrote a fictionalised account of his experiences in Korea under the pen-name Richard Hooker in 1968. All the characters who later became screen icons - "Hawkeye" Pierce, "Trapper" John McIntyre, "Hot Lips" Houlihan and "Radar" O'Reilly - first appeared in the novel, as did the rigged football games and the constant martinis. The anti-war sentiment at the time the book came out fueled interest in a screenplay and then a film. The director Robert Altman turned the story into a rambling, anecdotal meditation on the absurdities of war.
The TV series that followed two years later was one of the few cases of a spin-off eclipsing the original.
Postscript: Who would have thought you could base your entire career on a TV show?
The last real-life MASH passed away with far less fanfare last month, when the 84 bed field hospital was formally handed over to the Pakistani Government, after four months of providing relief for the victims of last October's earthquake.
When MASH units first began at the end of WWII, they were revolutionary. They were whole hospitals, complete with well-equipped operating theatres, set up under canvas just behind the front lines. Their proximity to the fighting, together with the use of helicopter evacuations in Korea, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War, saved thousands of soldiers' lives. In Korea, a seriously wounded soldier who made it to a MASH alive had a 97% chance of survival. Americas last MASH in South Korea was cosed down nine years ago. The army now prefers smaller, more agile medial units, known as combat support hospitals, which can travel to casualties on the front line.
The last of the old breed, the 212th MASH, based in Germany, was the first US military hospital established in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, but was then transferred to Pakistan after last year's earthquake. US medical units treated more than 30,000 civilian victims of the disaster.
The M*A*S*H legend was created by a former army surgeon, Richard Hornberger, who wrote a fictionalised account of his experiences in Korea under the pen-name Richard Hooker in 1968. All the characters who later became screen icons - "Hawkeye" Pierce, "Trapper" John McIntyre, "Hot Lips" Houlihan and "Radar" O'Reilly - first appeared in the novel, as did the rigged football games and the constant martinis. The anti-war sentiment at the time the book came out fueled interest in a screenplay and then a film. The director Robert Altman turned the story into a rambling, anecdotal meditation on the absurdities of war.
The TV series that followed two years later was one of the few cases of a spin-off eclipsing the original.
Postscript: Who would have thought you could base your entire career on a TV show?
