Factual error: Out by The Gun, Hawkeye's Captain insignia on his garrison cap is missing the lower corner of one bar. So, it would be considered unserviceable, that is, unfit for use, and should have been replaced with a new insignia.
Movie Nut
15th Sep 2021
M*A*S*H (1972)
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Suggested correction: While that is true by the Army's standards, it is entirely in character for Hawkeye not to give a flying you-know-what about the state of his insignia.
True, but even he knew that correcting it sooner rather than later would be wise. But, as always, I bow to your knowledge.
3rd Aug 2020
M*A*S*H (1972)
Audio problem: As Radar sets the clock back to 4:30, you hear ticking. The clock is electric, and wouldn't make a noise like that.
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Suggested correction: Electric clocks do not necessarily lack a ticking sound. Depending on their construction, they may or may not have it. Older clocks are actually more likely to produce some sort of audible ticking sound, because the precise motor speed regulation required to build a clock with sweep seconds is much more difficult than producing an oscillator that outputs precisely one pulse every second (even if the clock in question does not have the actual second hand, that would still be true).
I bow to your observation and stand corrected. Thank you.
30th Sep 2015
M*A*S*H (1972)
Continuity mistake: When the two soldiers get into a brawl in Post-Op, it's daytime. When Potter talks to Mulcahy, it's night. Then Klinger tells Mulcahy he's needed to break up the fight, it's daytime again.
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Suggested correction: In scene 1, set in the day, the Greek soldier is wearing a dark blue jacket and a light blue shirt. In scene 2, set at night, Father Mulcahy is wearing a black shirt and a brown robe, and resting before bed. In scene 3, set during the day, Father Mulcahy is wearing a black shirt, a sweatshirt, and a baseball cap. He is punching a speed bag. Klinger says there has been another fight between the Greek and the Turk. The Greek is not wearing a jacket. Scene 3 is from a different day than Scene 1.
22nd Apr 2022
M*A*S*H (1972)
Factual error: While eating, General Haggarty was told about how Conway should be a cook. Haggarty said "Change his (Conway's) MOS. MOS means Military Occupational Specialty, your job in service. Since M*A*S*H was set in the early 50's, Haggarty wouldn't have said that, because 'MOS' wasn't used until 1965.
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Suggested correction: "MOS" most certainly was used during the Korean War. In 1965, the MOS system was simply changed, not created.
I perhaps misspoke. It was titled PMOS, and revamped in 1965 as just MOS. My apologies and thanks for the info.
According to "Introduction to Special Regulations SR 615-25-15, Enlisted Personnel Military Occupational Specialties" from the Department of the Army in November 1950, it's MOS. The "P" just means primary, but MOS was/is used way more than PMOS.
15th Aug 2021
M*A*S*H (1972)
Factual error: When the bird Charles shoots lands on the land mine, you can see thing bounce on one side of the explosion. If the bird had really landed on the mine, it would have been obliterated.
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Suggested correction: Anti personnel mines are specifically designed to badly wound someone rather than kill them outright, as it takes more people to deal with a wounded casualty rather than if they were dead. Movies exaggerate the blast effect as anti-personnel mines don't actually blow anyone to pieces, even a large bird.
True, but in this instance, it was a small bird. The mine in question can severely maim or destroy limbs, therefore the bird shouldn't have been seen.
11th Mar 2015
M*A*S*H (1972)
Corrected entry: Unless the regulations for the time period were different, the belt buckles seen with the regular fatigues is incorrect. They should be the same color as the belt and/or uniform. The brass buckles seen were used with the dress uniforms only. Also, any rank insignia worn by officers would have been dull in color so that they would be less of a target to snipers.
Correction: There were no dull insignias in the Korean war.
If so, then I stand corrected.
21st Sep 2020
M*A*S*H (1972)
Corrected entry: Klinger has a rash from his uniform. However, in earlier and later episodes, he wears uniforms without a problem.
Correction: As mentioned, Klinger's rash is psychosomatic. It wasn't necessarily the uniform that caused it. It was being forced into it by Colonel Potter. Hawkeye says women's clothes are Klinger's personal defense against the Army and lack of that defense is causing him to break out.
I stand corrected, I had forgotten that angle.
1st May 2018
M*A*S*H (1972)
Factual error: When the South Korean Colonel and General are in the mess tent, their rank insignia are wrong. The insignia they are wearing are for the U.S. Army.
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Suggested correction: They could have been Korean Augmentation To the United States Army (KATUSA) officers, who were Koreans drafted or volunteered into the US military to act as a liaison between Koreans and the US military. As such they wore US uniforms and rank.
16th Aug 2016
M*A*S*H (1972)
Corrected entry: In this episode, Potter and company are being introduced to white phosphorous that is starting to be used. But in Season 2, Episode 1, "Divided We Stand", as Henry and Hawkeye come out of the O.R. a wounded soldier is brought in on a Jeep with white phosphorous burns, and they knew what to do.
Correction: Even if they knew how to deal with it at the time, the information might not have been common knowledge. As WP came to be used more frequently, the Army would send instructors to field hospitals to make certain everyone was up on the latest technique for dealing with it. (Col. Potter was also not in the earlier episode you mention, and he wants to hear the information).
Understood, but Potter was there in Season 4, Episode 24 "Deluge" when a WP case was brought in.
Remember that the main plot of this episode is that Col. Potter made a rookie mistake that almost cost a kid's life, and is fearing that he's too old to hack it as a doctor anymore. If the Army's learned something he doesn't know, he wants to know it.
Correction: "New" to the doctors on the front lines and "new" to the doctors back at HQ could be two different things.
It might be old news to the 4077th but new to the Army in general. Without asking a real Army doctor, Instructional briefings like this aren't optional. They don't ask if you already know it. The point of the scene is NOT "How many times has the 4077th already done this?" The point is "Potter thinks he's too old and can't hack it anymore, so IF the Army has learned something new, HE wants to hear it." And also shows us "Potter is on edge about something. Maybe we should call Sidney Green."
You could be the world's top expert in White Phosphorus, but if you're in the Army, and they tell you "You're going to attend a lecture on White Phosphorus," That's called an order and you do it, Mr. White Phosphorus, whether you like it or not.
Correction: Captain Simmons said the new weapon is "white phosphorus rounds." Phosphorus before then was likely used as part of artillery shells.
Correction: I know you can't worry about MASH's timeline or you'll go insane, but six seasons pass between this episode and that one. The Army medics could have learned some new things about treating the injuries in whatever time passed. And again, Col. Potter thinks he's slipping in this episode, so he wants to hear every word, and that's the main point of the scene.
15th Oct 2011
M*A*S*H (1972)
Trivia: The pictures painted by Col. Potter throughout the show actually were painted by Harry Morgan, the actor playing Col. Potter, who is an amateur painter in real life.
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Suggested correction: According to all sources, Harry Morgan didn't paint the pictures. The prop master hired local talent as needed.
18th Dec 2018
M*A*S*H (1972)
Good-Bye Radar: Part 2 - S8-E5
Corrected entry: Radar tells Klinger that "nobody helped me when I took the job." However, when Potter complains about Klinger's performance, Mulcahy tells him about Blake taking Radar under his wing and helping him grow into the job.
Correction: It is made clear that Colonel Blake was inept and had very little understanding of Radar's job. While Blake may have been supportive of Radar, Radar still had to learn the job on his own.
If he had little understanding of the clerk's job, then Mulcahy's statement that "Henry took Radar under his wing and helped him grow into the job" is moot.
Not necessarily as such. Both "taking under one's wing" and "growing into the job" are rather generic statements after all. Blake may very well have just kept his back while he learned the job, even though he may not have been such a great source of topical information on company-clerking in particular. For the question at hand however one should keep in mind that neither Radar nor Mulcahy are laying down historic facts when they make their respective statements, but try to make their points, which are, to wit: Radar thinks Klinger should stop bitching and try to find his feet, and Mulcahy thinks Potter needs to be supportive of Klinger.
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