Alan Alda Is Auctioning Off His Boots and Dog Tags From ‘M*A*S*H’ for Nearly $15,000

Alan Alda is parting with two pieces of incredible television history — and they could be yours.

The legendary M*A*S*H star is auctioning off the boots and dog tags he wore as Capt. Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce on all 251 episodes of the beloved series. 

Presented by Heritage Auctions, the items are currently available for bidding with the current highest bid set at $14,500. All proceeds will benefit the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.

"Putting on the boots and lacing up the boots, I was literally stepping into somebody's shoes," the actor told the auction house. "That feel of the leather on my foot, the comfort of being in those shoes, did something. I don't know. It's a mysterious thing, but it makes you feel more at home in the character."

The boots come emblazoned with the name "Hawkeye" on them, but the dog tags have a more interesting backstory. Those come stamped with the names of real-life soldiers Hersie Davenport and Morris D. Levine and, until recently, Alda had no idea who they were. 

"Yet every day for 11 years, putting them on over my head and wearing them, I had a very close connection with them," Alda said. "I always wondered what their lives were like. Were they alive, or were they dead? How had they served? They were real people to me, even though I didn't know anything about them other than their names. But to this day, I remember the names very well, and that's why it meant a lot to me."

According to Heritage Auctions, Davenport was a Black soldier from the South, and Levine was a Jewish man from New York.

"Hawkeye's boots and dog tags are not only entertainment memorabilia from a beloved series, but the cherished keepsakes of a national treasure," Heritage's Chief Strategy Officer Joshua Benesh said. "And before that, they were the personal artifacts of real soldiers. They now take on a new life as a source of fundraising for a noble cause in which a noble man has invested so much of his time and resources, and we are honored to be even a small part of such a grand gesture."

Alda played Hawkeye on all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H from 1972 to 1983. Its series finale was watched by 105.9 million people, which still holds the record for most-watched episode of a scripted television series in history. 

The auction for Alda's boots and dog tags closes July 28.