Donald Sutherland as Captain “Hawkeye” Pierce in M*A*S*H (1970)
Vitals
Donald Sutherland as Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, U.S. Army surgeon
Korea, Summer 1951 through Winter 1952
Film: M*A*S*H
Release Date: January 25, 1970
Director: Robert Altman
Background
Today would have been the 89th birthday of Donald Sutherland, the prolific and versatile Canadian actor who died last month at the age of 88. Born July 17, 1935 in New Brunswick, Sutherland rose to prominence as a steady supporting player through the ’60s—perhaps most notably in The Dirty Dozen (1967)—before his first major starring role in yet another war film, M*A*S*H (1970), adapted by screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. from Richard Hooker’s novel MASH: A Novel of Three Army Doctors. (The popularity of the film resulted in the eventual development of a TV show—starring Alan Alda as Hawkeye—that ran for nearly four times as long as Korean War hostilities.)
Set during the Korean War, M*A*S*H centered around around the irreverent Army doctor Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce during his tenure at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. He’s assisted in his hard-drinking hijinks by fellow surgeons “Trapper John” McIntyre (Elliott Gould), Duke Forrest (Tom Skeritt), dentist “The Painless Pole” Waldowski (John Schuck), and former football star “Spearchucker” Jones (Fred Williamson), all while battling the uptight majors Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Sally Kellerman).
At one point, Major Houlihan asks the compound chaplain Father “Dago Red” Mulcahy (René Auberjonois) how “a degenerated person like [Hawkeye] could have reached a position of responsibility in the Army Medical Corps!” to which Mulcahy simply responds, “He was drafted.”
Sutherland’s Golden Globe-nominated performance established him as a star as his career ascended through the ’70s with starring roles in Klute (1971), Don’t Look Now (1973), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), and Ordinary People (1980) while also continuing to provide memorable supporting appearances in movies like Little Murders (1971), 1900 (1976), and Animal House (1978).
What’d He Wear?
Apropos his rebellious attitude, Donald Sutherland’s Hawkeye never presents himself in a perfect example of a U.S. Army uniform, instead mixing regulation gear with personal accoutrements that craft a distinctively irreverent look.
Hawkeye’s Essentials
A staple across Hawkeye’s style is his camouflage bucket hat. Despite the association between camo and military gear, this headgear was unlike anything authorized by the U.S. Army before, during, or after the Korean War. “Frog skin” camouflage uniforms had ben fielded in limited numbers by Marines serving in the Pacific theater during World War II, but it wasn’t until the late 1960s when the familiar leaf pattern was adopted by the U.S. armed forces, beginning with the Marine Corps; the Army’s Engineer Research and Development Laboratory (ERDL) had actually developed the pattern as early as 1948, but it took nearly twenty years to enter service.
Hawkeye’s six-panel hat is likely an original or copycat “Jones Cap”, a water-repellent cotton canvas hunting hat with a foldable brim that can be fully or partially turned up or completely folded down like a bucket hat—as Hawkeye wears his. This style was pioneered for outdoorsmen and sportsmen by the Jones Hat Company of St. Louis, Missouri, which was established in 1881. Hawkeye’s green, tan, and brown-on-khaki color scheme recalls the aforementioned “frog skin” camouflage, with straps extending across the two front panels to provide rudimentary storage.
The classic Jones Cap (as sold by Mollyjogger) did not feature these two loops, but they were added on for the Papa Nui “Hawkeye Hat” (sold by Iron Heart) that was specifically designed to resemble Donald Sutherland’s screen-worn headgear.
One of Hawkeye’s few costume pieces stipulated by the script are his glasses, which he claims put him at a disadvantage when Major Burns attacks him in response to Hawkeye provoking him about Hot Lips (“Get him off me, I’ve got glasses! Get him off me!”) The semi-rimmed glasses have octagonal amber-tinted lenses and gold arms.
Hawkeye’s plain steel wristwatch resembles the simple yet rugged black-dialed 32mm field watches that were commonly issued to U.S. service members through the mid-20th century, though the luminous hour indices appear to be entirely non-numeric while most officially issued military field watches of the period also featured Arabic numeral hour markers. He wears his on the usual 16mm dark-khaki canvas strap.
OG-107 Utility Uniform
Hawkeye arrives at the 4077th in mid-1951 wearing the first pattern OG-107 utility uniform, slightly anachronistic as the U.S. Army wouldn’t begin producing these fatigues until 1952 nor issuing them until the end of 1953, by which time all combat in the Korean War had ceased. (This is at least not as significant of an anachronism as the later Vietnam-era OG-107s that Alan Alda and many of his co-stars would be dressed in for the eventual M*A*S*H TV series!)
Though it replaced the M1943 combat uniform, the OG-107 uniform more closely resembled the style of the earlier herringbone-twill (HBT) utility uniform of a matching shirt-jacket and trousers. It was named for the shade of olive-green #107 that the 8.5-ounce cotton sateen cloth was originally dyed.
Essentially unchanged for a decade until the “Type II” update in April 1963, the “Type I” OG-107 shirt features five brown plastic “dished” buttons evenly spaced up the plain front, with a sixth button spaced father apart to close the top over the chest, though the shirt was designed to be primarily worn open-neck with this top button undone and the collar laying flat above the revers. The long sleeves are finished with plain hems, rather than the button-strap cuffs or traditional buttoned barrel cuffs of the Type II and Type III OG-107 shirts, respectively. All three versions of the OG-107 shirt have two flapped chest pockets, though the Type I distinctively features rectangular flaps that have squared corners.
Hawkeye keeps the silver bar insignia (indicating his rank of captain) pinned to the right collar of his OG-107 shirt.
Only when he arrives does Hawkeye wear the OG-107 shirt tucked into their matching trousers. These flat-front trousers have patch-style front pockets with curved side entries and patch-style back pockets that, like the shirt, close with single-button rectangular flaps. The trousers’ plain-hemmed bottoms were designed to be bloused into the tops of wearers’ boots, and it appears that Hawkeye does follow this rule for his initial appearance.
Type I-era OG-107 trousers featured button-tab side adjusters in addition to belt loops, where Hawkeye wears a standard-issue olive-drab cotton web belt that closes through a silver-toned box-style buckle that has a matching metal tip.
Hawkeye’s slightly anachronistic OG-107 fatigues—even with his non-reg hunting cap—is the most his wardrobe aligns with actually Army regulations at any point int he movie.
You can read more about the history and three iterations of the OG-107 uniform at Standard & Strange and Moore Militaria.
Summer Style: The Pros from Dover
Rather than the white undershirts that I believe were expected to be worn with OG-107 uniforms, Hawkeye always wears a drab khaki cotton T-shirt—another uniform detail that would be carried over to Alda’s TV characterization. The shirt follows a simple design with a crew-neck and very short sleeves.
While our “pros from Dover” Hawkeye and Trapper John are practicing their swing in anticipation of playing golf in Tokyo, Hawkeye wears his usual drab duds modified for warm weather. He tucks the T-shirt into a pair of light sage-green (now “OD8”) trousers from the WWII-era HBT utility uniform, converted to shorts by being torn away at mid-thigh just above each knee, leaving the cargo pockets intact. Hawkeye’s HBT shorts are from a later pattern of the uniform introduced in April 1944 with the pockets dropped to allow for better access when wearing a field jacket. These bellows pockets over the thighs are each covered with a rectangular flap that closes through a single button.
HBT trousers are also rigged with belt loops, though Hawkeye holds his shorts up with a tan, brown, olive, and black camouflage sash tied through the belt loops rather than a conventional belt. (You can read more about HBT uniforms from At the Front and usww2uniforms.com.)
Hawkeye always wears M-1943 Combat Service Boots, distinguished by the integrated high-top leather cuffs that fasten around the shins. Intended to replace earlier systems of roughout boots and separate gaiters, these were introduced with the M-1943 combat uniform and are considered the first true modern combat boots fielded by the U.S. Army.
M43 boots were modified from the design of earlier Army footwear, with brown leather uppers that are derby-laced through seven sets of eyelets up to the ankles, where they transition to brown grain leather cuffs with two seven-grommet belted straps that each close around the shins through a single-prong buckle. The plain-toe boots were attached to one-piece black rubber soles.
Depending on the manufacturer and date of issue, the uppers were varying shades and grains of brown leather, though the mid-brown roughout on Hawkeye’s boots were a typical configuration. Even though a replacement was designed in 1948, M43 boots remained widely worn by Army personnel through the Korean War.
Cold-Weather Layers
Though the Army would introduce the M-1951 field jacket with its updated snap-and-zip front during the Korean War, Hawkeye continues wearing the previously issued field jacket that anchored the M-1943 combat uniform.
The immensely popular M-1943 field jacket was made from a light-wearing olive drab no. 7 (OD#7) cotton sateen cloth, with a thigh-length cut and four outer pockets that would set an Army outerwear template for decades to follow. Six OD#7 four-hole plastic buttons fasten up a covered-fly front, plus an additional button at the top that could close the ulster-style lapels over the chest. An internal drawstring cinches the waist to allow a closer but not confining fit. The two bellows pockets over the chest and two larger pockets over the hips are all covered with pointed flaps that each close through a single button covered by the flap’s cloth. The jacket also has shoulder straps (epaulets), and the set-in sleeves are finished with squared cuffs that can be closed through one of two buttons.
As the weather cools, Hawkeye wears the dark-brown knitted wool/nylon Type II glove inserts issued by the Army during this era. Ever the maverick, not only does Hawkeye wear them on their own (rather than inserted into actual gloves) but he also has the fingers cut off.
Hawkeye’s brown tubular-knit woolen scarf matches the gloves and was also a style commonly issued by the Army at the time.
Hawkeye frequently layers on a black pullover sweater with a smooth-knit shawl collar, textured body, and wide-ribbed set-in sleeves. Though it differs in its execution, the garment may be meant to represent knitwear issued to U.S. Army and Army Air Forces mechanics during World War II that followed a similar design.
Hawkeye’s light sage-green cotton boxer shorts resembles the high-rise underwear issued by the Army through the World War II era, detailed with a three-button fly and string-ties on each side of the waist.
What to Imbibe
“Are you a beer drinker, sir, or would you like to share a martini with me?” Hawkeye asks when initiating Trapper John into the Swamp, only for Hawkeye and Duke to be wowed by Trapper producing his own jar of olives to enhance their martinis.
When not swilling gin, the men of the Swamp—aside from the teetotaling Frank Burns—also drink plenty of beer, alternating between the all-American lagers Budweiser and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
How to Get the Look
Donald Sutherland as Capt. “Hawkeye” Pierce in M*A*S*H (1970), clad in his OG-107 shirt-jacket and cutoff HBT shorts.
Despite being a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, Captain “Hawkeye” Pierce’s regular wardrobe hardly concedes to Army regs of the early 1950s, instead blending World War II-era uniform pieces with some yet to be issued among a smattering of personal items to maintain his characteristic degree of insouciance.
- Olive-drab (OD-107) cotton sateen U.S. Army utility uniform:
- Long-sleeved shirt-jacket with convertible collar, plain 6-button front, two chest pockets with single-button rectangular flaps, and plain cuffs
- Flat-front trousers with belt loops and button-tab side adjusters, patch-style front pockets with curved entries, patch-style back pockets with single-button rectangular flaps, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Olive drab (OD#7) cotton M-1943 field jacket with 6-button covered-fly front, four bellows pockets with covered-button pointed flaps, cinched waist with inside drawcord, and adjustable button cuffs
- Khaki cotton crew-neck short-sleeved T-shirt
- Light sage-green herringbone twill (HBT) U.S. Army uniform cargo pants, cut-off to mid-thigh shorts
- Olive-drab cotton web belt with silver-toned box-style buckle
- Olive, tan, brown, and black camouflage sash belt
- Light-brown roughout leather M-1943 combat service boots with plain toe, 7-eyelet derby lacing, double-strapped brown leather cuffs, and black rubber soles
- Light sage-green cotton high-rise boxer shorts
- Olive, tan, and brown-on-khaki water-repellent cotton canvas “Jones Cap” six-panel bucket hat with two cross-panel storage loops
- Semi-rimmed glasses with amber-tinted octagonal lenses and thin gold arms
- Brown knitted wool/nylon Type II glove liners
- Stainless steel military-style 32mm-cased field watch with round black dial (with luminous non-numeric hour indices) on dark-khaki canvas strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie, read Richard Hooker’s source novel, and catch up with the continued antics of the 4077th on the long-running series of the same name.
The Quote
Oh come off it, Major! You put me right off my fresh fried lobster, do you realize that? I’m now going to go back to my bed, I’m going to put away the best part of a bottle of scotch… and under normal circumstances—you being normally what I would call a very attractive woman—I would have invited you back to share my little bed with me, you might possibly have come. But you really put me off. I mean you… you’re what we call a regular army clown.
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