M*A*S*H è una tragicommedia incentrata sulle vicissitudini del 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (Ospedale Chirurgico da Campo dell'Esercito) statunitense in Uijeongbu, Corea, durante la Guerra di Corea (1950-1953).
Molte delle situazioni raccontate, anche le più assurde, sono realmente accadute, come testimoniano molti dei veterani del conflitto.
A wounded GI learns a painful lesson when he forms a recovery room friendship with the enemy soldier he's critically wounded. Soldier: "My boots. All he wanted was my lousy boots. His feet were freezing. I'd have done the same thing. He was just a guy like me, and I shot him. I killed him, for a pair of boots. How can I ever look at a pair of shoes again without thinking of him?"