This is my Mom's story and I published it for her. She is really creative!
The Aftermath of M*A*S*H
A tearful goodbye was had by all! That about sums up the goodbyes at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Max and Soon-Lee departed for a very short honeymoon and a very long search for Soon-Lee's mother, father and brother. Father Mulcahey left to join the 8063rd during their consolidation because it allowed him to minister to his orphans for a few more months. Winchester finally gave Margaret back the copy of Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; he has even inscribed it for her. Margaret moved on to the 8063rd right after she and Hawkeye planted a kiss on one another that lasted like what seemed like hours. The discomfort on the faces of Colonel Potter, BJ and Winchester was not only obvious, but almost palpable. Speaking of Winchester, he wound up riding away from Uijiongbu, South Korea in a garbage truck with Rizzo at the wheel. An appropriate ending to the war for Charles, as he puts it, "What better way to leave a garbage dump than in a garbage truck!" When Potter took off for the orphanage to drop off Sophie to the orphans to help them with work at the orphanage and to provide rides for the children he was given the best possible send off by BJ and Hawkeye. They both snapped-to and saluted the Colonel. BJ's and Hawkeye's goodbye had to be the worst possible. They were so pained to be leaving one another, but so happy to be returning to their pre-war life, that it was a bitter-sweet moment. BJ never could say goodbye, but as the chopper rose, it was clear that BJ had conquered that stumbling block and left Hawkeye the salutation, "Goodbye," made from sandbags and placed carefully on the hillside. What a fitting end to a final episode entitled, "Goodbye, so long, farewell."
As Father Mulcahey arrived at the 8063rd he found himself sorely missing the man who was covering for his hearing loss, BJ Hunicutt. John Francis Patrick Mulcahey fell into a deep depression from his impending deafness. While he was at MASH 4077, Mulcahey and Colonel Potter had developed a strong friendship, almost a kinship. Upon hearing of his fond friend's plight Colonel Potter had the good Father shipped stateside and got him the surgery he needed at a Veterans' Administration Hospital to restore his hearing. He was so happy and grateful to God, he vowed to minister to other veterans who were in mental, physical and spiritual pain from their military service. Working in a hospital with veterans was just the tonic that his soul needed. What became of the others, Father Mulcahey wondered?
Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan got her head nurse position, without the help of her father, who was driving her crazy. He was still very angry with her for resigning her commission. She was happy though despite her father's disappointment. Margaret had flourished during her time as head nurse at MASH 4077. She had not only the skills, but the discipline and the ability to command respect that it took to be a head nurse in the 1950's. Her sheer guts had won her the respect of the almost exclusively male population of doctors at the hospital. Margaret fared well after the war. She met a doctor named Philip Wilkinson and was engaged about six months after she returned home. She wondered what had become of all of her colleagues from Korea.
Charles Emerson Winchester, III assumed his post at Boston Mercy Hospital as the Chief of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. It was a fancy title befitting a man of Charles' stature. His family welcomed him back, but not with such open arms because they had not been a close family before the war, and Charles' absence had not really made their hearts grow fonder. Within that first year, Charles' sister, Honoria, who happened to be his twin, died. Ironically, she had a congenital heart condition, which had gone undiagnosed for many years. Charles could not save his own twin. He, however was saved by her death because he had the same congenital defect. It seems that his time at the MASH had saved his life because Honoria, who struggled with the stresses of her job and of dealing with the Winchester family, was very hard on her cardiac system. She had developed high blood pressure, the silent killer, and never knew she was dying. Charles was able to have the defect corrected and was able to carry on with his life, as Charles did so well. He desperately missed his sister, but as we all saw in Korea, Charles kept his emotions close to his heart. He never wore them on his sleeve for everyone to see. The only two people Charles ever wondered about were his two crazy, but caring bunk-mates, Hawkeye and B.J.
B.J. Hunicutt finally got to rejoin his young wife, Peg, and his daughter, Erin in Mill Valley, California. Life for the Hunicutt's continued pretty much the same way as it did before his departure for Korea. One exception was that Peg, who was very "wifey" before he left, had grown to be an independent woman, especially for the 1950's. She had her own job, and her daughter was left in the care of Peg's parents. B.J., who was an extremely loving and supportive husband, embraced his wife's newly found independence. B.J.'s quiet, funny demeanor wasn't really marred by his experience in Korea, much of that was due to his friendship with Hawkeye who kept him sane with their lunatic antics. It sounds oxymoronic, but B.J.'s sanity was kept in-tact by Hawkey's insanity. Hawkeye was the best friend who could NEVER be replaced in B.J.'s mind. Hawkeye was the measuring stick for a friend upon whom B.J. would always compare his other friends. They talked on the phone twice a week for the first few months, then the calls were fewer and fewer. Eventually they would talk once per month. The exception was when the "unthinkable" happened to Hawkeye and that warranted a visit to Crab Apple Cove to see Hawkeye.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce lived a simple life growing up in Crab Apple Cove, Maine. Sunday lobster dinners were the norm in the Pierce household. For two guys, Hawkeye and his father did very well together. It was the missing element of his mom, though, which made Hawkeye want to become a doctor. He wanted to be the best doctor because if someone were sick, like his mom was when he was very young, then perhaps Hawkeye could save them. His mom was not so fortunate. She died from cancer when he was very young, and so it became Hawkeye and "Dad." What could have brought B.J. clear across the country? The only think that could, Hawkeye's father passed away about a year after the end of the Korean hostilities. Hawkeye hated the war while he was there and his reaction to it after his father passed away was so much more intense, that it took a visit from the one man who could act like a soothing balm, B.J. Hunnicut with his cheesy mustache and size 12 feet. Hawkeye fell into his arms crying when he knocked on the door to the small and intimate house in Crab Apple Cove that until a few days prior, Hawkeye and his dad had shared. Hawkeye was full of regret as he shared with B.J. the fact that his Dad had never gotten back the son who had left him for a few years to perform meatball surgery at a MASH unit in Korea. "My dad would always ask me, 'Hawkeye, what happened to you over there?' but Beej, I never had a real answer for him. Truth be told, I don't know what even happened to me. I was a fun-loving, strong willed, young and confident doctor when I left, and when I got home I was a jaded bitter, middle-aged acting pompous surgeon, who thought he could have enough of a challenge doing local and simple medicine with quiet country folk. B.J., I disappointed the one man I ever truly loved and respected. I couldn't take over his practice because life here is too simple. I went to work an hour away and hardly ever saw my dad." B.J. patiently listened as he always had. When Hawkeye was done venting, B.J. simply said, "Hawkeye, your dad would want you to do what would make YOU happy, especially after what we went through in Korea. Maybe he also knew that you'd been through too much to acclimate to simple medicine in a quiet little town. Why don't you at least consider moving out to the coast near Peg, Erin and me?" After things were settled in Crab Apple Cove, Hawkeye did just that! He had his best friend, his memories of his father, but not the constant pain that it would have caused him to stay there after Dr. Pierce's death. The distance in both mileage and emotion was just what the doctor ordered. In this case the doctor happened to be his best friend, who probably knew Hawkeye better than even his dad did.
One day while they were at San Francisco Memorial doing surgical rounds together, Peg called. She had received a call from Mildred Potter. Despite distance, Sherman had always stayed in touch. Both knew what Peg was about to say, but neither were willing, nor ready to hear it. "Sherman's gone. I'm so sorry guys!" Hawkeye and B.J. were stunned. They knew the day would come, but they were so saddened by the news. They both immediately went to their supervising surgeon and said that they would be gone for the next week. They were granted their vacation time, but they would have gone with or without permission. They headed for Hannibal, Missouri on the next possible flight out. Mildred said she would hold off on the services until they were able to be there with Sherman.
As B.J. and Hawkeye walked into the funeral home, they were absolutely stunned! There, in this small gathering room stood a blast from their past. It was a group of people who they never thought that they'd see together again. Margaret, Charles, Father Mulcahey, Klinger and Soon-Lee, and Radar and his wife Patty, who Radar met on his way back from R&R right before his uncle Ed passed. They were all gathered around Mildred Potter. The only one missing was Colonel Sherman T. Potter. He wasn't missing though, his corporeal form was there, but his sweet, tough, loving disposition was missing. Everyone began to weep as they saw each other for the first time since that long goodbye! As they gathered to compose themselves, the best possible person to help them walked through the door. Former Major, now just plain doctor, Sidney Freeman, the psychiatrist. He reminded the group of the love that they had for each other, which was lead by Colonel Potter! He reminded them of how they kept one another sane through the insanity and chaos that was their daily routine, a.k.a., Korea.
Father Mulcahey called upon the group to have a seat and he preached the funniest, most witty and beautifully heartfelt sermon and eulogy that anyone could have ever asked for. As the group rallied around Mildred and her family, they thanked her for sharing her Sherman with them for what must have seemed to her, an eternity. She was grateful for their kind words and reminded them that the Sherman that she knew was exactly the Colonel that they all knew too! As in most of the times we saw Sidney Freeman grace the MASH unit with his wit and wisdom, he was going to be the first to depart. He said to them all, "As I've told you on at least two previous occasions, and this time it is so on point, with this being January in Hannibal Missouri…'Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice!" With that Sidney blew them all a kiss and departed. The rest of the crew spent the night at a local bar reminiscing about the times spent at MASH 4077 and their memories good and bad, and of someone who neither Soon-Lee nor Charles had ever met, old ferret face himself, Frank Burns. They laughed at everything that happened with him whose name was rarely spoken, in respect for Margaret who had a long-time love affair with him. Then they thought about the fact that Frank, the looniest of the loonies at the 4077th, had actually been shipped stateside after being psychiatrically hospitalized and then was promoted to Lt. Colonel! The entire group shook with the thought of Frank being in command of anything. In typical Hawkeye style he quipped, "Frank couldn't even command the English language never mind be in command of a military unit or in command of anything for that matter!" This all brought them back to the reason they were in Hannibal in the first place. They smiled and spoke about their first leader that they lost, Henry Blake, and his successor Sherman Potter. In true Potter tradition they all raised a glass to their fallen comrade, "To Colonel Potter, may we all emulate his character, wisdom and love!" With that, the group dispersed and they all went back to their hotels, and to their lives in the aftermath of MASH.