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8 The Nyack Villager November, 2012
Remember the days?
by James F. Leiner
Angel of the Battlefield
OneshowIhatetomisson
TV is the reruns of M*A*S*H.
I enjoy the comedy amidst the
horrors of war. The characters
are wonderful: Hawkeye, Trapper,
BJ, Radar and of course
“Hot-Lips.” I’ve watched every
episode many times and only
recently discovered Nyack has
a direct link to one of the characters in the
M*A*S*H series. Some might question my
theory, but keep reading and see what you
think.
Twenty-one year old Christine Menninghaus
completed her degree as a registered nurse
at Flower Fifth Avenue School of Nursing.
She quickly found a job at a hospital near
her home in Clifton, New Jersey. She told
me once, “I served in a civilian hospital for
a year and then decided I wanted to do
something different.” So, in 1948 Chris
joined the Army Nurse Corps. After training
at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in
Colorado, Chris found herself heading to
Pyongyang, Korea. In November, 1950 the
first nurses since the start of the Korean
conflict landed at Pusan. Chris was assigned
to the 171st Evacuation Hospital where she
met Major Ruby Bradley. Major Bradley,
who was in command of the nurses in
Korea, is regarded as the most decorated
woman in US Military History.
In a 2009 interview published in the Veterans
of Foreign Wars magazine, Chris tells of
her experiences in Korea. “I served at an
evac hospital, a little bit further behind the
lines than a M.A.S.H. unit. While I was
farther away from the fighting, the shooting
was far too close for comfort. At times we
barely escaped the Chinese onslaught.
When a M.A.S.H. unit became inundated,
wounded soldiers would be brought to us.
We would take care of head, spinal, chest,
and abdominal injuries and other smaller
injuries—but there was really no such thing
as a minor injury.” Chris went on, “We did
surgery 24 hours around the clock when
there was a major campaign and I served in
six campaigns. There was a lot of uncontrolled
blood. In a regular operating room,
you take care of that because you clamp
everything off, but it wasn’t like that there.
We treated thousands of patients under the
most heart-rending circumstances. Despite
working 12-hours shifts, there was never
any doubt about the worthiness of our
cause and the camaraderie was like none
other than I have ever experienced.”
One of the surgeons Chris
worked with was Dr. H. Richard
Hornbeger. For her service,
Chris earned six campaign stars.
Her experience working with
the wounded in combat reinforced
her desire to be a nurse.
After leaving Korea, she was assigned
to the Keller Army Hospital
in West Point. She served
there for a year and half where
she met the love of her life Peter Sinnott.
In 1953, Christine Sinnott was hired by
Nyack Hospital where I first met her on the
morning of August 17, 1972. I was wheeled
into her operating room, where she was the
“charge nurse,” to correct the damage I suffered
in my fall from a utility pole while
working as a lineman. It was only a few
years later and a few more times meeting in
her operating room, that Chris and Pete
Sinnott became my neighbors.
So, by now you must be wondering how
Chris’ magnificent nursing career ties into
M*A*S*H? I wrote earlier she worked directly
with Dr. H. Richard Hornberger in
Korea. Dr. Hornberger used the pen name
“Richard Hooker” and wrote the book
M*A*S*H: A Novel about Three Army
Doctors published in 1968. His book was
used as the basic script for the movie and
later television series. In his novel’s forward
notes, Hooker writes: “The characters in
this book are composites of people I knew,
met casually, worked with, or heard about
while working in Korea.” Certainly “Hot
Lips” has some of the traits the doctor saw
in Major Ruby Bradley, and isn’t it possible
some of Chris’ traits as an excellent operating
room nurse and the camaraderie she experienced
also went into developing the
character of Major Houlahan? Knowing
Chris for more than 30 years, I think so!
The tragedy in Chris’ life didn’t end with
the war in Korea. In 1980 her husband
Peter was killed in a tragic accident while
serving as a volunteer in the Nyack Fire Department.
The way Chris handled the horrors
of Korea went a long way helping her
handle the death of her husband with grace
and dignity. If you’ve spent time watching
M*A*S*H you can see some of the same
values in the character of “Hot-Lips” Nyack
certainly had an Angel of the Battlefield!
The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for
helping us all ‘Remember the Days.’ ✫