Alan Alda Auctions Off ‘M*A*S*H’ Dog Tags and Boots for Good Cause
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Now's your chance to get your hands on Alan Alda's dog tags from the hit TV series M*A*S*H, that is, if you have some spare cash lying around.
The actor, who starred in the show as Captain "Hawkeye" Pierce, is auctioning off both his character's dog tags and boots used in the series in order to raise money for Stony Brook University's Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.
According to the university, "The Alda Center’s graduate and professional development programs help make science more accessible, focusing on building skills and refining strategies that empower researchers and communicators to reach audiences in new and engaging ways," and Alda collaborated with the school for its creation.
M*A*S*H ran from 1972 to 1983 and followed a group of people in the U.S. Army working at the United States Army Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, which took place between 1950 and 1953.
The dog tags and boots are being auctioned off by Heritage Auctions, with a current starting bid of $32,000. The live auction will take place on July 28, starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.
The military-issued dog tags belonged to actual soldiers named Hersie Davenport and Morriss D. Levine, who were both discharged from the army in 1945. Heritage Auctions' research discovered that Davenport later died in 1970, while Levine passed in 1973.
Alda told the Associated Press that the dog tags, given to him by the costume department, "made an impression on me every day that we shot the show."
“I saw those names every day,” he said. “It was an interesting experience to put them on. I wasn’t dealing with props. I was dealing with something that put me in touch with real people.”
Alda went on, saying of the boots also being auctioned, “There’s an old belief among actors that when you put the shoes of the character on, it’s easier to believe you’re the character and I think the boots had that effect on me.”
So, if you really desire, head over to the auction tomorrow to buy an important piece of television–and U.S.–history.
