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Column by Dr. Richard Sternberg

M*A*S*H

September was the 50th anniversary of the TV premier of MASH. The Smithsonian Museum has a new special exhibit that includes one of the iconic props from the TV show, the sign post with the distances to places all around the world.

In 1983, the museum had a special exhibit called MASH: Binding Up the Wounds, that I visited twice.

The program was about people thrown into what to them, with their technical and scientifically based training, was a completely absurd situation: an army hospital near the front lines during the Korean War.

What started out as a broad comedy quickly took on emotional issues about war, life and making a family of those around you in such an environment. The Korean War background was really a metaphor for the war in Vietnam which was still raging when the show came on the air.

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