The situation comedies of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s tried to make some aspects of various wars humorous.  However, as I listened to both my father and my uncle, both veterans of WWII, it was clear that they did not agree on the humor in some of these series.

My Uncle Bob served in the European Theater as an officer in WWII.  While he seldom spoke about the experience in detail, it was clear that he served some time as a POW in Germany after his unit was forced into surrender by a large contingent of tanks.  He could sit and watch McHale's Navy for hours -- laughing and enjoying himself immensely.  However, he abruptly left the room when confronted by Hogan's Heroes -- a favorite in our house.  He was always heard to say "There's nothing funny about a POW camp."

My father served as a Staff Sgt. in the Pacific Theater -- spending much of his time flying missions from New Guinea as a radio operator-tail gunner in the B-25 known as "Mitch the Witch".  My father did not outright ban McHale's Navy from the house.  However, he did not stick around to watch when it was on TV.  He felt that it trivialized the challenges faced by the men serving in the hot, humid, bug-infested environment of the South Pacific.  On the other hand, my dad was entertained by the concept of Hogan's Heroes -- the challenges of people and problem-solving, and of leadership that was shown by both the situations and the dialogue.

The power of TV syndication has allowed me to revive my acquaintance with both of these series -- now being able to view from a more mature point-of-view.

There is a difference in the sophistication of the two series -- one used more slapstick and physical humor while addressing the challenges of less than ideal leadership.  The other concentrates on the interaction of people in improbable circumstances -- always with a problem to solve and a lack of clear resources to solve that problem.  The humor operates at many levels -- often emphasizing the horrors of the European Theater by forcing situations to their logical, or sometimes, not so logical conclusions.

My adult bias still favors Hogan's Heroes.  It may be a holdover from my upbringing.  However, I would like to think that it has to do with my ability to see how well the series handles leadership challenges, as well as moral and ethical issues.  This series might easily have been a precursor to M*A*S*H where the humor operates at many levels and the writer's never hesitated to tackle a serious issue head-on.