I see pictures of Max Klinger, the enlisted man from Toledo, Ohio, (character played by actor Jamie Farr) in the M*A*S*H TV series, being shared all over the internet as some sort of symbol of transgender people serving in the military.
Corporal Klinger was bucking for a Section 8, which was a designation of being unfit due to psychological issues. Cross dressing was considered a mental problem and Klinger was trying to exploit that loophole for several seasons, unsuccessfully. Nevermind that in earlier seasons, he attempted to leave by many different means, only to be brought back by the MP’s or thwarted when his scams were uncovered.
He ended up putting his dresses away in the final three seasons as he became the company clerk, replacing the lovable Radar O’Reilly. At no time did Klinger ever claim to want to become a woman. He was married to a woman in the show. He just wanted to dress in women’s clothing as a way to get out of the army.
I loved the character, despite his antics. He was a good man.
The social justice warriors of today who are busy trying to rewrite history may disagree. All you have to do is watch the show. Hope that clears things up.
Sonoran Conservative 
I always considered Klinger to be a loveable goofball. I knew guys in the military that if they wanted out, they could get out (although that Other Than Honerable jacket ended up killing their job prospects in the long run).
Klinger always gave it a half-assed try to get out… but he would stand his posts and do his duty (even while wearing his dresses).
Have a lot MORE respect for the Klinger character than certain stolen valor fail whales.
LikeLiked by 2 people
If Klinger had been a malingerer or a danger to the unit, I’m sure Potter would have shot him where he stood. In just about every other way, he was an ideal soldier. He got an extra stripe when the army was happy to let you have one for the duration. And he kept it.
On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 9:25 AM, Sonoran Conservative wrote:
> lorddewclaw commented: “I always considered Klinger to be a loveable > goofball. I knew guys in the military that if they wanted out, they could > get out (although that Other Than Honerable jacket ended up killing their > job prospects in the long run). Klinger always gave it a ” >
LikeLiked by 3 people
Even in the original book Klinger was a good guy. The tv show merely expand on him. IIRC, in the he had a family back home in Toledo [wife and kids] and he desperately wanted to get back to them and didn’t want to be killed by the Norks [or Chinese]. He was rational.
A guy from my little [350] hometown ducked, one way and another, being drafted in 1964-68 or so but was finally “swept up” [like guck and litter from the floor] and “enlisted” in the army. He sobbed horribly every night for the first few weeks in boot camp [despite a couple of shower parties] trying to get a psych discharge. Never happened. He wasn’t even allowed an eval until after boot. Ah, those were the days.
And then of course he wasn’t any good as a trigger puller [despite being from a very rural area] and was generally pretty worthless at anything he put his hand to [we could have told the Army this]. I don’t know what his MOS was but he never got near Vietnam.
Korea, Vietnam . . . when the military needs bodies they don’t let you out easy.
He was probably [“provably”?] a better enlisted man than Our Bill.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah, darnit. In the BOOK he was trying to get home to his family. He may have been kept past the two year out date, too. Anyway, he was a good guy in a crazy situation.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My biggest source of entertainment is watching liberals use TV shows and movies to prove a point about real life issues; like the slogan I saw on a protester board along the lines of, “In a disaster movie, there is always a scientist being ignored.”
It’s a MOVIE! It’s NOT REAL!
(except Star Trek. Star Trek is real.)
LikeLiked by 3 people
And Con Air.
Con Air is the real deal.
Cameron Poe is da man. And was even before he skeert fatass Blobbo into removing the D’oHs from his LULZuit.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Point of order: they’re not rewriting history, They’re rewriting *fiction.*
Chew on that for a minute.
LikeLiked by 3 people