Captain Benjamin Franklin

Famously portrayed in the television series by Alan Alda, the Hawkeye of Mash the Novel is considerably different, but does possess some similarities to the television character. Hawkeye is born and raised in Crabapple Cove, Maine and the son of Dr. Daniel "Big Benjy" Pierce. He goes to Androscroggin College and plays football, where, it turns out, he intercepts a pass from the man he will later come to know as Trapper John McIntyre. Once he leaves his Boston residency, he is drafted by the U.S. Army Medical Corps and brought to the 4077th.

Hawkeye does his best to make it through the war by drinking heavily, mouthing off to superior officers, engaging in outrageous antics and being an excellent surgeon. The name "Hawkeye" is given to him by his father and comes from The Last of the Mohicans, "the only book my old man...