For the Good of the Outfit - S2-E4
Revealing mistake: Frank is shaving; when he bends down to pick up the envelope containing shrapnel fragments, the foam on his face and ear suddenly all dries up. The shot must have needed a lot of takes. (00:07:20)
Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16
Other mistake: How did Hawkeye Pierce, a surgeon, know how to drive a tank? It is nothing like driving a car and takes skills, training and experience that a surgeon simply would not have. He wouldn't even be able to start the engine.
Sometimes You Hear the Bullet - S1-E17
Henry Blake: All I know is what they taught me at command school. There are certain rules about a war, and rule number one is that young men die. And rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one.
Trivia: Gary Burghoff's left hand was slightly deformed, and he often hid it behind his clipboard during filming.
Question: A number of times it is mentioned that the outfit is unarmed, yet several times, Frank has a rifle, or a pistol, and once Klinger had a grenade, and the guards and Klinger, while on sentry duty, has a rifle. Was this standard, or is this a mistake?
Answer: The Geneva Convention allows even doctors to carry a sidearm to be used in their self defense or the defense of their patients, however it is rare to do so.
Answer: As an old medical unit staffer, my experience is that med units have combat units assigned to defend them. Usually it was marines.
Answer: My old doctor (now deceased) served in Korea during the War. He was required to carry a sidearm anytime he was not in the hospital.
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Answer: Even an Army field hospital would have SOME weapons for self-defense if the enemy attacked. What's meant is that it's not a combat outfit, and therefore wouldn't have enough weapons to actually attack anyone. (It's also mentioned a few times that the Officer of the Watch is supposed to carry a pistol at all times, but Hawkeye refuses to do it when he's in charge and Colonels Blake and Potter don't enforce the rule).
Captain Defenestrator