Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

• Judges 6:12

“The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength.

• 1 Samuel 2:4

One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”

• 1 Samuel 16:18

So Joab’s men and the Kerethites and Pelethites and all the mighty warriors went out under the command of Abishai. They marched out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.

• 2 Samuel 20:7

I was asked about a comment that I made in a post months ago.  I said two things about the television show M*A*S*H regarding my time in Europe in the Army.  The Armed Forces Network went to great pains to have M*A*S*H aired on their network within a couple of months of the original airing.  The only other show that was aired that quickly was General Hospital, the only soap opera on the network at the time.  Funny that my wife became hooked on General Hospital, but when she returned to the States, she lost interest due to being two months behind.

In comparison, other shows came to the Armed Forces Network two or more years behind the airing of the show.  Some shows were cancelled before they made it to the network.  Then you went home after your tour overseas and wondered happened to a show that you liked.

This does not count live television transmission.  I think some things like the Super Bowl started being viewed about the time I went to Europe.  It was commonplace my last year in Europe to have one live sports event each month.

But the other oddity about M*A*S*H was that it was a protest show, yet the people in our community marked the airing dates on their calendars.  Everybody watched the show.

Why watch a program against the Army?

But I think Loretta Swit’s remarks in a text shortly before her death on March 30, 2025 explains it.  The protest was against war in general, and Loretta Swit’s last text was that we should never forget those that paid the ultimate price for the freedom we share.

M*A*S*H was a war protest television show.  It was not an anti-Army show.  It portrayed the Army in a dysfunctional sense at times and those that served could identify with that.  But it showed the humanity of the people in uniform.  It showed the love they had for each other.  And even though the fictional characters that had fictional surgery at the M*A*S*H 4077 did not die in real life, at least not 40 years ago when the show last aired, the people on camera showed that they cared.

Maybe it was a little transfer for us to think they cared about us.

Maybe we identified with how everyone was a family.  The military in the USA is pretty much like any job, but when you were stationed in West Germany during the Cold War, you had a bug out bag prepared for each family member.  You had a prescribed amount of canned goods in the hall closet.  I had three cases of C-rations.  And yes, people came by to inspect your apartment or house to ensure you were ready.  And everyone in your four-floor walkup was family.

There was a connection to that television show that made it “must watch.”

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.