One of the classic MAS*H episodes involves Hawkeye ordering takeout BBQ ribs from Chicago after he’s driven crazy by the base serving liver slop for two weeks straight.
The episode actually is pretty clear about the journey the ribs go on.
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A civilian picks the uncooked ribs up from the restaurant in Chicago and brings them to the military police at Midway airport to send to San Francisco.
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In San Francisco, “military air transport service, APO” takes over. They’re told to refrigerate the ribs, and rush them to Korea.
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The ribs are delivered to a supply depot near Uijeongbu where Hawkeye and Trapper pick them up.
The episode implies this takes place in the fall of 1950 through mentions of Gen. MacArthur and a chopper pilot going “down to Seoul,” which would fit the time when the UN forces had counterattacked north.
So, in late 1950, could the army have transported (refrigerated) ribs and BBQ sauce from Chicago to near the front in Korea quickly enough for them not to spoil? How would it have happened?