Sherman Potter enlisted in the Army at fifteen, when he lied about his age to get into the cavalry and was a member of the "1st cavalry" {Presumably this is either supposed to be the 1st US Cavalry Regiment, which didn't go oversees in World War I, or the 1st US Cavalry Division which wasn't formed until 1921}. Potter's serious love of horses is noted in several different episodes–he claimed in one episode to be able to shoe his own horse Sophie His exact age during the series is debatable. When Potter first takes command September 19, 1952, he claims to be 51 which would place his birth date in 1900/or 1901. In the episode, "Pressure Points", Potter gives his age as 62. With the episode set in 1952, he would have been born in 1890, and been fifteen years old in 1905; likewise, in a two-part episode when Major Burns is missing {gone from the show} he claims to have smoked cigars for 47 years--since 1905 or 1906 {age 15} In 7.2, he mentions having been in the army for thirty-five years; assuming the year is 1952, he would have joined in 1917, the year the United States entered the First World War. Assuming he did enlist at age fifteen, he was born in 1902. In another episode, he mentions joining the cavalry during the days of Theodore Roosevelt's "Rough Riders", which only existed during the Spanish-American War of 1898 which would have made him 69 in 1952, when the mandatory military retirement age for officers is 60 .
In the Season 5 episode Lt. Radar O'Reilly, when Radar is "promoted" to 2nd Lt. for, among other things "bugling," Potter claims to have been in the army for 40 years, implying he enlisted in 1912 at age 15. In 11.7, Potter rants that someone over 60 shouldn't go to Florida; both the previous and succeeding episodes reveal that the timeline is the June/July of 1953. In 6.22, Potter is one year from retirement {which would be a date of September 2, 1953}. Yet, when he first comes to the 4077th at the end of the Season 4 premiere, "Welcome to Korea," which the P.A. announced to be on September 19, 1952, he claims to retire in 18 months, which would be a date of March 1954.
He married Mildred in 1916. A conversation with a wounded soldier in a season 7 episode reveals their wedding date as September 8. However, in the episode "Settling Debts", he states that his anniversary is Groundhog Day, February 2 (he picked that day so he wouldn't forget it). In "Hey, Doc", Potter writes to Mildred on their 27th wedding anniversary which, with it being 1952, means he was married in 1925; had he married in 1916, it would have been their 36th wedding anniversary in 1952. In "Change Day," Potter claims to have been married 38 years--since 1913. In "Point of View", Potter is angry at himself for forgetting to call Mildred on their 35th anniversary. In "Too Many Cooks," Houlihan remarks Potter's been married 40 years.
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