He was the seniorsurgeon - how come he stayed whn Trapper AND frank left? Didn't they all need the same amount of ponts to go home?

He was the seniorsurgeon - how come he stayed whn Trapper AND frank left? Didn't they all need the same amount of ponts to go home?
Well, technically, Frank was discharged not because of his rotation points but for what he did in Tokyo while chasing after Margaret (the charges were later dropped and Frank was transferred back to the States - and promoted!)

If Trapper had been at the 4077th for the same amount of time Hawkeye was, then it was possible they had earned the same amount of points; maybe since Trapper had a family home that gave him an advantage?

My guess is that since Wayne Rogers and Larry Linville left the series because they wanted to and Alan Alda didn't want to leave (and became the star of the show) naturally Hawkeye would never be rotated home.

BJ also was discharged before Hawkeye in the finale, but was then sent back to the 4077th. I thought that was a little strange. Shouldn't Hawkeye have gone home before BJ?

Here are some interesting links about the history of the Korean rotation points:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,818117,00.html

http://www.army.mil/CMH/books/korea/22_1_8.htm

http://www.army.mil/CMH/books/korea/22_1_8.htm

BJ also was discharged before Hawkeye in the finale, but was then sent back to the 4077th. I thought that was a little strange. Shouldn't Hawkeye have gone home before BJ?

Unless I'm mistaken, didn't B.J. getting discharged turn out to be a mistake? But it was too late, B.J. had already left.

I know why Hawkeye never went home until the finale, because Alan Alda was the most popular character, but in the show's world, it does seem rather odd that Hawkeye was never discharged. Let's take a look at the other characters who went home.

Lt.Col. Henry Blake got all his points and was discharged. What happened to him after that, has nothing to do with his actual reason for leaving the MASH.

Capt. Trapper John got all of his points about, what a week after Henry left?

Maj. Frank Burns got a little crazy on his trip to Tokyo, and ended up getting sent stateside and promoted to Lt. Col (Henry's old rank!).

Cpl. Radar O'Reilly left due to his Uncle Ed passing away, and he was needed back home, so Potter sent him home. I forget what the technical name is, Hardship discharge or something.

And throughout the whole war, Hawkeye, Margaret, Klinger and Mulcahy remain at the MASH.

I remember an episode where Potter told Hawkeye that the points to leave was higher and he went off, saying he'd never get to go home. It does make you wonder how Trapper got all of his points so ahead of Hawkeye. Unless they went by the movie, and Trapper was there first. But still, he couldn't have been there that much ahead of Hawkeye.

Just asking - aren't one of the mistakes in the show when Henry gets discharged because of "points" and the Army wasn't counting or either the doctors didn't count or something?

Just asking - aren't one of the mistakes in the show when Henry gets discharged because of "points" and the Army wasn't counting or either the doctors didn't count or something...


Yes, i believe the rotation points system was discontinued by the Army before the Korean War.

See, that's completely what I thought, too.

But those websites I found above seem to suggest otherwise.

So, I asked my brother who's in the army and my grandpa who fought in Korea. Both said that the point system was still in effect, but only for those who had already earned points in WWII--no new people earned rotation points as in the past.

Nonetheless, Hawk, BJ, Trapper, etc., would not have amassed any points from WWII, so idk.