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Famed newscaster played in MAS*H episodes

Five O'Clock Shadow

By Charles Deal | Special to the Record

Published: July 6, 2009

M*A*S*H, the most enduring and impact-wise series in American television history, shows no signs of losing its grip on a faithful audience.

Having viewed all 251 episodes many times, I am one of the hooked for several reasons.

I made my first flight into Korea from Japan three months after the Korean War erupted in June 1950 and was in and out as a correspondent over the next 22 months.

Scripts and the language are accurate, and the sets are hauntingly real.
In the war termed a "police action," troops didn't retreat when things went badly. "Bugging out" was the term used.

On occasion, a Japanese phrase is used. That's accurate, too, because short rest and recuperation (R&R) leaves were usually in Japan, nearby in distance, via an Air Force transport aircraft, but worlds away from combat.

An episode last week, featuring the early days of the Korean campaign, was shot in black and white and featured interviews with doctors and backup personnel, beginning with Alan Alda, the lead actor who played the key role of Capt. "Hawkeye" Pearce.

"Hey, I know that guy," I blurted to the BW. "I believe that's Clete Roberts doing the interviews at the M*A*S*H" (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital). Heavier and older, the eyes and voice were a give-away, but proof was needed.

I dialed an Internet search engine and dropped in Clete Roberts' name. Bingo!

There were literally hundreds of items on Roberts, including several appearances in M*A*S*H, playing the role of a broadcast interviewer in several episodes. He was asking the military personnel how they felt about the war.

In 1951 in Japan, as a correspondent in the Combat Cargo Command, I had the assignment of touring with Clete Roberts and his photographer in some of the hot spots in Korea.

I made sure 500-plus pounds of cameras and backup equipment were safely moved about and found them a decent place to sleep in each of four nights. I churned out a story on Roberts and his coverage of GIs fighting the war for use in The Airlift Times, a military newspaper I edited for Air Force and airborne military personnel.

An urbane mustachioed newscaster, Roberts, a fixture in Southern California for 30 years, worked hard to find Californians with high-risk units, Army, Air Force and Marines.

Later still, I found that Clete Roberts played brief roles in a number of films — "The Jerk," "The Swinger," "Man on a String," "The last Hurrah," "Time After Time" and "The Story of GI Joe."

This had to come from other sources. Although proud for good reason, Roberts had the suave movements of a leading man, but said little about himself. While he answered questions, he didn't offer storylines.

War wasn't new to the newscaster. A correspondent in World War II, he also covered Vietnam when Korea cooled down to a stalemate.

Armed with a movie camera, he was one of a few who shot their own film to illustrate a newscast, learning early the best stuff is risky, having been shot close to the action.

The Walter Cronkite of the West Coast ended his news roundup with, "I bid you a pleasant evening."

It figured that Roberts would be older on the early M*A*S*H shows. More than 20 years had passed between our Korean tour and his early appearances on the long running TV show.

Pleased with his Korean tour, Roberts treated his photographer and me to a great meal in one of Tokyo's finest restaurants and a hotel room with real sheets for several nights, far removed from a smelly sleeping bag on the ground.

When we went our separate ways, Roberts handed me a gift, a beautifully hand-sculptured briar pipe. I haven't smoked in more than 45 years.

Clete Roberts died in 1984.

That brief mission with an extraordinary newscaster remains a clear memory as well as that gift pipe that had disappeared, wedged perhaps in a crack of time.

Charles Deal is a former newspaper editor and publisher. Reach him at chazdeal@aol.com.