Movies - TV
The True Story That Inspired The Darkest Moment In M*A*S*H
By VALERIE ETTENHOFER
Although “M*A*S*H” was a sitcom, the show had its serious moments. The bleakest plotline came in the feature-length series finale, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.”
The finale is a celebration of peace, but writer and star Alan Alda used a true story, known as the chicken story, to show the devastating impacts war can have on those involved.
Alda does this by showing Hawkeye at a mental hospital after having a nervous breakdown. The doctor works with a psychologist to work through repressed memories.
The surgeon recalls a memory of the unit traveling with South Korean refugees and that one woman was holding a chicken. However, the enemy draws closer to the group.
Hawkeye commanded that the woman shush the bird so its sounds wouldn’t carry and give away their position. Eventually, the truth emerges: it wasn’t a chicken, but a crying baby.
The woman smothered it to keep everyone else safe. It’s the darkest moment in “M*A*S*H,” one that’s impossible to come from without a sense of shock and horror.
Unfortunately, this story is true. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, executive producer, writer, and director Burt Metcalfe spoke about the true story.
Metcalfe said, “When I went to Korea, a man told me that during the war, a North Korean patrol was crossing across a bridge.” Hiding under the bridge was a group of South Koreans.
He continued, “A mother’s baby in the group started to cry, and she smothered it to avoid the group’s detection.” This story became the focal point of Hawkeye’s final plot.
Instead of wrapping up Hawkeye’s story happily, Alda and the writers chose to do something realistic and show the consequences of war.