Alan Alda's M*A*S*H* character is named Benjamin Franklin Pierce, but why is everyone calling him Hawkeye? The iconic CBS comedy-drama American war series follows the team of doctors and support staff stationed at the fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Uijeongbu, South Korea during the Korean War. Based on Richard Hooker's 1968 novel, MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, it also functions as a spin-off to the 1970 feature film, M*A*S*H* which originally starred Donald Sutherland as Pierce. Like Alda's character, however, he too is nicknamed Hawkeye.
Despite being technically an ensemble series with a string of regular characters appearing throughout the show's 11-year-run, the show's true lead is arguably Hawkeye, who was initially paired up with Wayne Rogers' Trapper John who left after M*A*S*H* season 3. Most plotlines are centered on him, and he plays a significant part in the few that aren't. From Northern England, Hawkeye is regarded as the best surgeon in the 4077th unit. When not treating injured soldiers, Hawkeye tends to flirt with women, drink his martini, or just wreak good-natured havoc in general.
A usually missed detail from M*A*S*H* is its explanation of the origins of Pierce's nickname. The CBS series revealed in season 3, episode 12 titled "A Full Rich Day" that the war surgeon was named after The Last Mohicans' protagonist, Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe because it's the only book that his dad ever read. As established on M*A*S*H*, Hawkeye is pretty close to his dad. Several episodes of the war comedy-drama were actually devoted to him writing a letter back home to his father, which made for a unique storytelling trick as it seemed like he was narrating the events of the outings. Given this, it makes sense that the nickname that Pierce Sr. gave his son stuck with him even as he worked in war-torn Korea, and the explanation is the same as the one offered in the original novel.
Pierce’s Hawkeye Moniker Is Deeper Than You Think
There's actually some confusion regarding Pierce's claim that The Last Mohicans is the only book his father ever read. In later seasons of M*A*S*H*, it is revealed that like his son, Pierce's father is also a doctor, which means that he has surely read other books. Despite this, the CBS show didn't offer any clarification about Pierce's earlier story. In any case, there's actually a deeper reason why M*A*S*H*'s protagonist is nicknamed after The Last Mohicans' lead. As depicted, Hawkeye is the ideal hero known for his bravery, resourcefulness, and compassion — all of these traits, Pierce also embodied throughout M*A*S*H*'s full run. Despite some aspects of the show aging poorly over the decades, Hawkeye's place as a noble hero has endured.
M*A*S*H* has endured as a popular comedy and has the most viewed finale of all time. Its popularity has also persisted thanks to its availability on streaming services which allows younger audiences to check it out decades after it wrapped up on CBS. Its success is attributed to its delicate balance of comedy and drama mixed with subtle but impactful commentary about the atrocities of war. The face of the show will always be Alda's Hawkeye, who like his The Last Mohicans' namesake is a hero in every sense of the word.