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 M*A*S*H
Helicopters - Major conveyance of injured soldiers on the
Korean War comedy drama M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83. The Bell H-13 Sioux
army helicopter was an essential element on each episode of this
popular wartime program. For starters, helicopters are seen in the
opening sequence of each episode as nurses and doctors rush to the
aid of newly arrived wounded soldiers who are strapped into
wind-shield protected metal baskets attached to the chopper's
landing struts.
Corporal Walter O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff), the
company clerk at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*SH)
has an uncanny ability to sense the arrival of these helicopters
long before any else hears the whirling of their rotor blades. His
unique talent earned him the nickname "Radar."
Throughout the
series the helicopter or their pilots were featured in a variety
of storylines, as well. During one episode an insensitive,
money-hungry helicopter pilot refused to stop using local Korean
children to sift through mined battlefields to collect souvenirs
that he could then sell for a profit. Trying to keep the
impoverished kids out of harms ways, Dr. Benjamin Franklin
"Hawkeye" Pierce (Alan Alda) threatened to find something
medically wrong with the man and ground him unless he stopped his
black market dealings. Putting flying over profit, the pilot chose
the more noble path.
And, on episode "To Market, To Market" (aired
9/24/72) Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake's (McLean Stevenson)
beautiful 100-year-old antique desk was illegally procured to pay
off black marketers who wanted to exchange much needed drugs for
Henry's fine piece of furniture. Captains Pierce and John "Trapper
John" McIntyre" secretly carried the desk to a helicopter pad
where it was whisked away to its news owner.
On the series finale,
a helicopter also played a key role in the program's sign-off. As
Dr. B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) drove away on a motorcycle, a
helicopter with Captain Pierce aboard slowly lifted off the
ground. Directly below, Hawkeye began to see a message left by his
close friend B. J. who had spelled out the word "Goodbye" using a
pile of field stones. (episode "Goodbye, Farewell, Amen" aired
2/28/83). The final shots of the series are viewed from the
vantage point of the helicopter overhead as a convoy of retreating
M*A*S*H personnel line the roads below.
TRIVIA NOTE: In the opening credits sequence of
Robert Altman's the movie M*A*S*H (1971) that
inspired the TV series, we see helicopters leaving the front lines
and heading to nearby M*A*S*H medical units. The scene is
complemented with the soothing but mocking lyrics from the film's
theme song "Suicide
is Painless" which reveal such sentiments as
"the sword of time will pierce our skin, it never hurts when it
begins"; "the game of life is hard to play, I'm gonna
lose it anyway." See also - "Henry
Blake's Desk"
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