MovieChat Forums > MASH (1970) Discussion > 'My Lai' Marston

'My Lai' Marston

posted 11 years ago by gridsleep
2 replies | jump to latest

I'm not going to watch M*A*S*H again in the foreseeable future to try to answer this, but maybe someone out there has a clue. How does a Major in the Korean War get nicknamed after an obscure Viet Nam village that only became famous after the 1968 massacre? Surely there is no My Lai in Korea, is there? Or was My Lai actually known for something 'way back in the early '50s? Or is this one of Altman's little jokes? And if so, how come it didn't make the list of anachronisms?

[–] SevernSarge 11 years ago

In the Richard Hooker novel, the character is nick-named "Me Lay." The character's favorite method for propositioning prostitutes was to ask them, "Me lay, you lay?" Thus he received the moniker. The character list just seems to have his name spelled incorrectly.

Book 'em, Danno! (The real one, not the new one)

[–] shieldsdraeger 7 years ago

During the operation on the congressman's son you have this:
Hawkeye:(Looking at the gas passer) Did I ever tell you about my friend,
"Me Lay" Marston?
Trapper: Oh yeah, yeah. He'd go around saying "Me Lay, You Lay" to all the
girls. But he'd score one out of fifty times.