- When the 4077th staff find an abandoned Amerasian baby, their efforts to help her prove a frustrating struggle.
- Some people inspire love; some people inspire gas. When a little bundle of Amerasian baby girl is left on The Swamp doorstep, the 4077 crew scrambles in delight to provide makeshift diapers, milk and affection. They are all very excited until Captain Mulcahy arrives. He knows the atrocities visited upon mixed race children by law in Korea. Even in an orphanage, the child would be treated like an outcast slave. Her only hope is sanctuary in a secret cloistered Catholic monastery. Hawkeye and BJ are outraged and try to charm Miss Harper at the Red Cross. She refers the guys to Major Spector, top aide to the Army Adjutant General. Maj. Spector refers the guys to Korean "Civil Law" (which are the words no layman wants to hear.) Koreans are an ancient civilization of one race. They have laws and traditions for an ordered society. They like the logic and structure this fosters. The next day, Col. Potter and Hawkeye reach out to a South Korean official. There, they learn truths that startle their democratic sensibilities: the U.S. is the only one of the 16 countries of the UN with fighting units in Korea who refuses to provide any type of assistance or citizenship for their soldiers' "oops-spring." The last resort is Prescott of the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. Enter one Mass. Blueblood to assist the pride of Maine; but Prescott is no help, either. He is a Blueblood, but he is conversant with the U.S. Code and the (then) current INS law. In other words, it is no soap and no sale. The baby brings out fierce maternal and paternal instincts in every member of the 4077 and they fight to do their best for the child. The 4077 fought the law and the law ...or the lack thereof, won.—LA-Lawyer
- A baby is abandoned at the 4077th and right away, the surgeons and staff become surrogate fathers and mothers. But an army surgical hospital is no place for a baby, so Hawkeye and B.J. appeal to the Army to try and send the baby to an orphanage. It was out of the question because the baby is half Korean, half American, and that is hated among full Koreans. Hawkeye, B.J., Colonel Potter and Charles try their best, but cannot have the baby adopted by Koreans and they cannot send the baby home to the states. Father Mulcahy, however, has an idea that might work...—<Explorerds6789>
- Some people inspire love; some people inspire gas. When a little bundle of Amerasian baby girl is left on The Swamp doorstep (with a note that says that the baby is fathered by an American GI, who is gone now. The mother has left the baby to the doctors as she cannot care for her with her meager resources), the 4077 crew scrambles in delight to provide makeshift diapers, milk and affection. Potter gives the baby a physical. Klinger Swipes Houlihan's t-shirts as clothes for the baby. Houlihan decides that the baby will bunk with her, as Hawkeye and BJ howl in protest.
They are all very excited until Captain Mulcahy arrives. He knows the atrocities visited upon mixed race children by law in Korea. Even in an orphanage, the child would be treated like an outcast slave. Little girls have sometimes been killed outright. Her only hope is sanctuary in a secret cloistered Catholic monastery. For the centuries, armies have fought around monasteries and left them alone to their own lives. The life at the monastery will be of extreme hardship, and the child will grow up in strict environments, but will have a life inside the monastery.. Potter thinks this isn't much of a life for the baby and the gang decides to shake the US army to see what they can do.
Hawkeye and BJ are outraged and try to charm Miss Harper (elizabeth Farley) at the Red Cross. The red cross is unable to help children of mixed decent and She refers the guys to Major Spector, top aide to the Army Adjutant General. Maj. Spector (Howard Platt) refers the guys to Korean "Civil Law" (which are the words no layman wants to hear.) The best the duo can do is to adopt the child. To adopt the child BJ and Hawkeye have to fill in an application endorsed by both the child's parents (which are unknown), get endorsement from the chaplain and the CO, and even then it can be rejected for any reason whatsoever..
Zale makes a crib for the baby and at least she has a good day at the 4077th. The next day, Col. Potter and Hawkeye reach out to a South Korean official. The official reveals that the Koreans are an ancient civilization of one race. They have laws and traditions for an ordered society. They like the logic and structure this fosters. Mixed race babies represent disorder and hence hated. There, they learn truths that startle their democratic sensibilities: the U.S. is the only one of the 16 countries of the UN with fighting units in Korea who refuses to provide any type of assistance or citizenship for their soldiers' "oops-spring."
The last resort is Prescott (William Bogert) of the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. Enter one Mass. Blueblood to assist the pride of Maine; but Prescott is no help, either. He is a Blueblood, but he is conversant with the U.S. Code and the (then) current immigration law. In other words, it is no soap and no sale. The baby brings out fierce maternal and paternal instincts in every member of the 4077 and they fight to do their best for the child. The 4077 fought the law and the law ...or the lack thereof, won. The MASH 4077 has no choice but to leave the child at the monastery.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content