Season 8, Episode 16: Bottle Fatigue
Special Guest Stars: Dr. Anj and Scott X
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Okay, I am not very far into this podcast, but I have to jump in now regarding booze in a combat zone. European militaries still issue rations of alcoholic beverages. Our country’s history with alcohol is more complicated. Here’s a site with sourced information on when the rations stopped and started for the U. S. military: https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/alcohol-rations-in-us-military-history-early-history/
Here’s a neat BBC article I ran across summarizing the history of alcohol consumption in America: https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/alcohol-rations-in-us-military-history-early-history/
Specific to the club system (officer and NCO clubs), they are one of many functions on a base paid for wholly or in part by non-appropriated funds (NAF). That means they’re expected to be partially or fully self-supporting. Other services at least partially paid for with NAF include chapel ministries, the base exchange, the outdoor recreation shop where you rent camping gear and athletic equipment, the auto hobby shop, and the arts and crafts shop. That list is from the top of my head and not comprehensive. But they are generally things it’s harder to justify to the taxpayer than food rations, fuel, and ammunition.
The history of drinking down range (in a combat zone) is even more complicated. It’s a lot more restricted now than it was in Korea or Vietnam. There are a lot of places where it’s absolutely forbidden, except for certain authorized exceptions. Sometimes Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines (and presumably even Space Force Guardians) need to blow off steam. (NOTE: With junior Marines and Army Rangers, it’s generally best that it happens in a very controlled environment). And sometimes, you need to build relationships with people from other cultures, and drinking together can help. There are also places where consumption is permitted, but limited. That’s usually at an air base far away from, but directly supporting the fight.
Sometimes, people make unauthorized exceptions to alcohol restrictions. I can expound at length on how and where this might occur, but it may be best if I do so when you are not recording.
I promise, the text above had paragraph breaks before I clicked “POST COMMENT.” And I haven’t had anything this morning but coffee and eggs!
And now the paragraph breaks are back. Thanks, Rob! Now I’m wondering if I accidentally put some Kahlua in my coffee…
Great discussion. It’s a pretty cool coincidence that an episode featuring a Cheers cast member has a recurring joke about Boston… yes, Boston, Massachusetts.
Speaking of Cheers, I couldn’t help but think of Sam Malone in connection with Hawkeye having to leave the gang at the O Club so he wouldn’t be tempted to drink. Sam was an alcoholic and yet was able to own the bar without being tempted (except a couple times in the early years on Cheers). But I think Hawkeye was more subject to temptation here because he was in the early stages of quitting (albeit temporarily).
Boston has a reputation as being a very racist city. The Red Sox did not sign their first black player until 1960, three years after Jackie Robinson retired.
I’ve lived most of my life in Alabama and I have seen my fair share of racists. But just against blacks, never run across people who had a dislike for Italians, Irish, Jews, or any other minority ethnic group. Maybe it’s because we don’t have large clusters of Italian neighborhoods like they do in other parts of the country.
Polish jokes did used to be pretty common when I was growing up during the era MASH aired on TV. They seem to have fallen by the wayside, which is a good thing.
According to his Wikipedia page, Muggs first appeared on Today on February 3, 1953. That’s fewer than six months before the war ended. A bit of a stretch to believe he became such a cultural icon that someone in Korea would not only be aware of his existence but would be able to name drop him successfully. But such a timeline inaccuracy is so rare on MASH we can forgive it.
I am a fan of running gags on a show where one person has to deal with something like the Boston, Massachusetts thing several times. Even Charles seemed to given up fighting the battle by the end.
Has it been noted about BJ wearing a pink shirt, especially to sleep? Is that a leftover from the red dye party? Showing how clueless I am, the shirt’s recurring appearance only started clicking a few episodes ago.
I’d forgotten that Shelley Long had a MASH appearance! Listeners of CheersCast know that I’m a big fan of hers, and she’s quite adorable in this episode, plus the proto-Dianne character is great!
For Winchester, while he’s awful for most of the episode, one of the reasons I like him is he’s willing to admit when he’s wrong. Of course, he’s wrong a lot, so there’s plenty of opportunities, but his ability to admit fault keeps him from being completely unlikeable.
Thank you, all three, for a very entertaining and interesting conversation!
I think the premise of Bottle Fatigue is really interesting, for both storylines. But where the episode misses the mark for me, is that Charles and Hawkeye are on such similar journeys througout the episode. They have the same, high level energy of being annoying, loud, and full of themselves. There are no real peaks and valleys, it’s like energy, energy, energy, then they both have an epiphany towards the end, and calms down. I think they could have focused way more on Hawkeye here, and put Charle’s whole storyline in another episode, so it could have more focus on it’s own.
Hawkeye’s behaviour is so true to character. He has such an obsessive, manic personality, so it makes perfect sense. Had he started to work out or take tango lessons he would have been obsessive about that too, trying to force his newfound interest upon everyone.
I guess I would have liked to see him reflect more about how Korea has changed him. What is a part of him now, and what will he leave behind when he goes home. In my headcanon, he will try and build a still back at home in his room, to make it feel like the Swamp, and like a connection to BJ.
I love Charles’s relationship to his sister! I think part of why he was a little into Margaret when he first arrived, was that she reminded him on Honoria a bit. Wild and free spirited. And he likes that in other women too, everyone he has a thing for has that wild side.
I also think it’s endearing and sad, really, that Margaret is the one sticking up for Hawkeye, explaining his behaviour to the others. As she tells Frank in Bulletin Board (I think it’s Bulletin Board, anyway, but I’m too lazy to look it up), her mother is an alcoholic. I can see young Margaret being used to cleaning up after her mom, getting rid of empty bottles perhaps, so her father wouldn’t see them. I can see her mother being the type who would quit drinking cold turkey. Tell her daughter “Oh, my girl, this time will be different, I promise, I’m gonna be such a good mom now,” and then falling back into old habits again and again. And Margaret would get disappointed over and over again, but never give up hope. So adult Margaret sticking up for Hawkeye here, having hope, until she’s had enough, always makes me a bit sad.
Completely agree – the singing is… a choice. It seems more threatening than anything.
Also – Father Mulcahy – don’t pull at Hawkeye’s foot like that. What if he loses his balance and falls? That part always makes me nervous.
As someone whose family has been impacted time and again by alcoholism, I’m always impressed with the way MASH is able to handle the subject. This episode and “Bottoms Up” are especially good, and ring true to those who know the signs, effects and results of this tricky disease. It’s clear to anyone in this club that Hawkeye is not an alcoholic, but he’s wise to find out for himself. His fears of going home and building a still in his living room are not unfounded. Service members coming home with addiction to drugs and alcohol are far too common – as explained by Frank burns himself in “Alcoholics Unanimous” – another such episode, which leaned heavily on humor, but still had moments of genuine insight. It’s no small thing that MASH itself has helped me in my own questionable moments. Knowing the difference between ‘wanting’ and ‘needing’ is an important weapon in the arsenal, and having Hawkeye’s decisive moment in my mental storehouse has been invaluable.
On a lighter note, drunk, bigoted Winchester is some of my favorite comedy gold. And I too, being ifrom the upper midwest, lived in a community of Germans and Poles exclusively – no one as exotic as an Italian that I can recall. So we Polish folks had to endure nothing but polack jokes from those dirty krauts. 😀
Iron Guts,
I’m making two different comments for this episode. First, I’d like to discuss how much I appreciate that Hawkeye realized how much he was drinking and was concerned that he wasn’t sure what a normal amount would be when he got home. I was part of the invasion into Iraq in 2003. Like many other service members, I self-medicated with alcohol when I returned from war. I lived on Ft. Polk in Officer Housing and didn’t have to leave the installation since there were stores right there, including a place to buy the whiskey I had become dependent upon. It became a running joke amongst my Army buddies that we were functioning alcoholics.
Thankfully I realized what was happening and sought out help. A regimen of therapy and medication helped me learn more healthy coping mechanisms to face my PTSD. I have now gotten to the point where I rarely drink. And if I do, two will make me tipsy. I don’t drive if I have just one. It’s not worth the risk.
I don’t think the show’s writes had self-medicating with alcohol in mind when they wrote this script. But, the sentiment managed to carry over through the decades.
Iron Guts,
As noted in my other comment, here is a different note. I didn’t want to take away from the first with this one. You asked why the officer’s club would charge for drinks yet food was provided in the mess tent for free. A few notes on this. First, the Army uses Nine classes of supply. Class One is subsistence. This is the food, coffee, drinking water, and other things from the mess tent. These are items that the Army has to provide. You cannot tell soldiers that they’d have to fight a war and figure out where to get their next meal at the same time. Other classes of supply include clothing and equipment; petroleum, oils, and lubricants; construction materials (barrier materials, barbed wire, sandbags, etc.); and other things necessary to carry out the mission. Class Six is Personal Demand Items. That is the pogey bait (snacks eaten in the field) tobacco, and alcohol. The Army does not have to provide these items and soldiers have to pay out of pocket for them. So, it would reason that the O-Club would charge for these items.
Now, the military did provide alcohol rations for some time. The US Military provided daily whiskey rations during the Revolutionary War up until the Civil War. Then up through WWII, a two beer ration was provided that included in combat zones. A number of prohibition era politicians still had influence when the Korean War started and they pushed to restrict alcohol rations. This was implemented up through Vietnam where alcohol or beer was only provided in Rest and Relaxation (R&R) areas only. That did not prevent soldiers from buying alcohol in combat areas. Fast forward to 2003 where General Order Number One was issued stating that no alcohol or beer would be available to service members in combat areas, period. There was R&R areas such as Qatar that had a beer garden where you could buy up to three coupons for beer.