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Where it all started: Meet Dale and Cathy Drake. “MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors” was based on their lives and their shared experiences with Dr. Richard Hornberger. Cathy Drake first went to Korea in 1950 as part of the Army Nurse Corps. It was at the 8055th where she met Dale, an anesthesiologist. The Drakes traveled to Maine about 10 years after their time in the Korean War to reminisce with Hornberger. They spent an evening chatting about the people they knew there. They talked about a nurse named “Hot Lips.” A chest-cutter named “Trapper John.” And a quiet doctor who suddenly sauntered into a Halloween party one night clad in a wig and shimmering dress. Those stories went on to fill the MASH book. Later, Gene Reynolds hired the Drakes on as consultants for the M*A*S*H series.