Hawkeye Pierce

This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the television series ''M*A*S*H'', ''AfterMASH'', ''W*A*L*T*E*R'', and ''Trapper John, M.D.''

''M*A*S*H'' is a popular media franchise revolving around the staff of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital as they attempt to maintain sanity during the harshness of the Korean War.

Overview

Main characters

Hawkeye Pierce

Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Jr. in the novel) was played by Donald Sutherland in the film. On television, Alan Alda played the Captain. Between long sessions of treating wounded patients, he is found making wisecracks, drinking heavily, carousing, womanizing, and pulling pranks on the people around him, especially Frank Burns and "Hot Lips" Houlihan. In the novel, he serves as a moral center and author's alter ego, chiding Trapper John for calling Major Houlihan "Hot Lips," which he never does himself. Although just one of an ensemble of characters in author Richard Hooker's ''MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'', in the television series Hawkeye became the center of the MASH unit's medical activity. In the television series, he becomes the Chief Surgeon of the unit early in the first season.

Pierce was born and raised in New England, most often mentioning Crabapple Cove, Maine, with a few references (primarily in the early seasons) to Vermont. His father graduated from medical school and settled in Crabapple Cove, Maine in 1911. His mother is deceased and he has a sister (although, like Vermont, they are mentioned in some early episodes), and he is close to his father, who—as mentioned in the later episodes—is also a doctor. In the novel and film, Hawkeye is married with children, but in the TV series, he is a bachelor and something of a ladies' man. He was given the nickname "Hawkeye" by his father, Benjy (Sr.), in the novel and in the series from the character in the novel ''The Last of the Mohicans'', "the only book my old man ever read". His birth name is taken from a member of Hooker's own family named Franklin Pierce.

Alternatively, in the lobby of Memorial Hall at Harvard University, the names of Harvard men who died in the Civil War are inscribed. Among those from the Medical School is listed one Benjamin Franklin Peirce ic

Although he had a rather unremarkable boyhood growing up, by his own admittance he had had several experiences he never forgot: once when young he fell overboard in a pond and nearly drowned as a result of a cruel practical joke (which left him with lifelong claustrophobia); when he was 10 he made his father extremely angry when the elder Pierce found his son in bed with a girl and smoking a cigarette; when he was 12 he found out his father was dating a female bookkeeper; to keep attention to himself Hawkeye selfishly ruined their relationship so they couldn't marry. He attended the fictional Androscoggin College. In the book and the film, Hawkeye had played football in college; in the series, he is non-athletic. After completing his medical residency (possibly in Chicago; he has a familiarity with the city that implies extended time spent there, e.g., "Adam's Ribs"); he had a common law marriage with a nurse, Carlye Breslin, but they broke up after a year. He served briefly in World War II; in 1950 he was drafted into the US Army Medical Corps and sent to serve at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) during the Korean War. Alda said of Pierce, "Some people think he was very liberal. But he was also a traditional conservative. I mean, he wanted nothing more than to have people leave him alone so he could enjoy his martini, you know? Government should get out of his liquor cabinet".

Pierce has little tolerance for military red tape and customs, feeling they get in the way of his doing his job, and has little respect for most Regular Army personnel. He never wears rank insignia on his fatigues, usually wears a bath robe instead, never polishes his combat boots, and only wears his Class A uniform when he believes appearance can achieve greater good – but does not wear any of the decorations to which he is entitled. (Based on what was told and shown in the course of the series, these would include the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Campaign Medal, the U.N. Service Medal, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart, and possibly a Legion of Merit; plus the Combat Medical Badge for his periodic service at battalion aid stations.) On occasion, he assumes temporary command of the 4077th in the absence or disability of Colonels Blake or Potter.

As a surgeon, he does not like the use of firearms and he refuses to carry a sidearm as required by regulations when serving as Officer of the Day. When he is ordered by Colonel Potter to carry his issue pistol on a trip to an aid station and they are ambushed on the road, he fires it into the air rather than at their attackers. This was after he told the gun "You're fired."Folb, Jay. ''M*A*S*H'', Episode 5/11, "Hawkeye, Get Your Gun". First aired November 30, 1976. Retrieved May 14, 2015.He is also a chronic alcoholic, for three years in Korea drinking every day three times as heavily as the average person is homemade still; daily tabs at the MASH officer Club and Rosie's Bar

In the series finale, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen", Hawkeye experiences a mental breakdown when a Korean woman responds to his frantic demand that she quiet her infant child lest enemy soldiers hear it and discover them, by suffocating it. In talking to psychiatrist Sidney Freedman he first says that the woman had suffocated a chicken, until Freedman led him to admit the repressed memory - the horror of a mother smothering her own baby.

When the Korean Armistice is announced, he states his intention to return to Crabapple Cove to be a local doctor who has the time to get to know his patients, instead of contending with the endless flow of casualties he faced during his time in Korea. He is depicted doing this in Hooker's two sequels, '' M*A*S*H Goes to Maine'' and '' M*A*S*H Mania''.

Trapper John McIntyre

Captain "Trapper" John Francis Xavier McIntyre appears in the novels, the film (played by Elliott Gould), the ''M*A*S*H'' TV series (played by Wayne Rogers), and the spin-off ''Trapper John, M.D.'' series (played by Pernell Roberts). He is one of the main characters in the ''M*A*S*H'' TV series during the first three seasons and the central character of the latter series. His nickname comes from an incident in which he was caught having sex with a woman in the lavatory aboard a Boston & Maine Railway train: she claimed in her defense that "he trapped me!"

In the book and the film, Trapper John is a graduate of Dartmouth College (having played quarterback on the school's football team) and serves as thoracic surgeon of the 4077th. In the film, he has a dry, sardonic, deadpan sense of humor, while in the ''M*A*S*H'' TV series he is more of a class clown. Trapper spends much of his time on the series engaging in mischief with Hawkeye Pierce, with the two playing practical jokes on Majors Frank Burns and "Hot Lips" Houlihan, drinking, and trying to seduce women. While Trapper expresses great love for his wife and daughters, he also fraternizes with the nurses a great deal with no pretense of fidelity. Judging by his full name he comes from a Catholic family.

In the film, Hawkeye and Trapper are given roughly equal focus, but in the TV series, the character devolved to become more of a sidekick to the character of Hawkeye. This frustrated Rogers, and in combination with a dispute over the terms of the original five-year contract, he quit the show shortly before production of the fourth season began; the character of Trapper was abruptly discharged from the Army and sent back to the United States. The character of B.J. Hunnicutt was created to replace him, with the two part Season Four opener created to explain his absence (the third episode introducing Col. Potter was intended to be the premiere episode).

The character returned to television in 1979 in the medical drama series ''Trapper John, M.D.'' Now played by Pernell Roberts, the character is depicted in the then-present day as the middle-aged Chief of Surgery at a San Francisco hospital. Regarding his family life, he is divorced from his wife; the only mention of his children is that he has a grown son. This version of the character is in continuity with the film rather than the TV series, but no other characters from either production appear in this series, making Trapper John the only ''M*A*S*H'' character to be depicted on-screen in the present day at the time of airing. In the first season, McIntyre's chief nurse, nicknamed "Starch", is said to have served with/worked for him in Korea, but never appeared in the novel, movie, or TV series. Trapper John, along with ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'''s Lou Grant, thus became one of a handful of 1970s television characters to be successfully adapted from situation comedy to drama.

B. J. Hunnicutt

Captain B.J. Hunnicutt is played by Mike Farrell in the TV show. He replaced Trapper John, both in his position within the unit and as an ally of Hawkeye Pierce and a foil of Frank Burns, appearing in all but one episode of the rest of the series. Although he glibly answers that the initials "B.J." stand for "anything you want", he tells Hawkeye that his name is not an initialism, but simply B.J., derived from the names of his parents, Bea and Jay.

Hunnicutt resided in Mill Valley, California before he was drafted. He was educated at Stanford University and was a member of the Tau Phi Epsilon fraternity. He is a third-generation doctor in his family. He went through his military training at Fort Sam Houston. He came to MASH 4077 age 28 one week before Colonel Potter took command September 25, 1952. According to his own account he has been in practice 10 years {apparently he went to Medical School at age 14; graduated at 18 and somehow missed service in World War II).

He is devoted to his wife Peg (née Hayden) who writes many letters to him while he is in Korea. The couple has a daughter, Erin, who was born shortly before B.J. left for Korea. In contrast to the philandering Trapper John, B.J. remains generally faithful to his wife and daughter, saying that it's not because he thinks it's morally wrong to do otherwise, but "I simply don't want to." One time he accidentally had an unplanned one-night stand while comforting a nurse, and was also similarly tempted into having an affair with a visiting female journalist. The nine months he spends in Korea caused him to have an emotional breakdown because of the separation from his wife and child. However he was later written to be in recreation of Trapper John when in one episode ("Movie To-night) he and Hawkeye sing a duet about how they ''both'' "''work on patients through the day and on nurses through the night''." He is also more reserved than his predecessor, often serving as the voice of reason when Hawkeye goes too far. Nonetheless, he also participates in and initiates practical jokes, such as secretly switching Major Winchester's clothing for that of other soldiers to make him think he is gaining or losing weight, or filling Frank Burns's air raid foxholes with water. On other occasions, B. J. encourages members of the 4077th to play jokes on each other, starting escalating joke wars for his amusement, with neither side knowing that he is the instigator. Unfortunately, this has often backfired on him when both parties he was pranking find out and retaliate.

While he assumes the same general disregard for military discipline exhibited by both Hawkeye and Trapper--going as far as to grow out a Walrus moustache at the start of the 7th season in clear violation of Army uniform guidelines (and would be retained by the character for the rest of the series, though Farrell would shave it off immediately after the series ended)--B.J. professes stronger moral values. For example, in the episode "Preventative Medicine" he refuses to participate in a scheme to relieve an overzealous officer of command by performing an unnecessary appendectomy on him. He is a skilled surgeon, willing to take extraordinary measures to save a patient, such as in "Heroes", where he undertakes an experimental procedure he had read about in a medical journal, using a primitive open-chest defibrillator and open-chest heart massage. On another occasion, he gave away a Bronze Star he was awarded because he felt he did not deserve it.

He actively avoids the finality of farewells, but when the 4077th is disbanded in the series finale, he is last seen riding his Indian motorcycle

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