MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has donated its last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to Pakistan, phasing out a medical aid division that was the subject of a popular TV series.
The final MASH was bequeathed to the Pakistani military for continued treatment of earthquake victims from around the Kashmir region.
Combat support units that work closer to front lines have come to replace MASH units, which became a household name thanks to a hit 1970 film and darkly humorous TV show set during the Korean War.
The series, which ended in 1983, sought to demonstrate that humor was possible amid the tragedy of war.
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan Crocker presided over the decommissioning ceremony, saying: "Today we transfer this MASH unit to Pakistan and in so doing we are celebrating a new dimension in an old alliance and partnership."
Pakistan will take over a $4.5 million, 84-bed facility.
The 212th MASH was the most decorated combat hospital in the army and the first to be established in Iraq in 2003.
