Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty
Alan Aldais giving up his combat boots and dog tags for a good cause!
Proceeds from the event will go to the Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York. The television star helped create the center in 2009 to allow scientists and doctors to improve their communication skills with various exercises and strategies.
AP Photo/LM Otero
The actor wrote and directed the final episode of the show and won five Emmy awards for his performance in the series.
“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,” he told the outlet.
CBS Photo Archive/Getty
Upon receiving the items, Alda found that the tags say Hawkeye, but carried the names of two men he believes to have been actual soldiers.
“I saw those names every day,” he continued. “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.”
According to AP, Hersie Davenport and Morriss D. Levine were the soldiers listed on the tags who were later discharged in 1945.
20th Century Fox/Everett
The actor also revealed that he initially displayed the mementos on a shelf in his office but later moved them into a closet.
As the boots and the tags have been stowed away after many decades, Alda said that the auction presented an opportunity for them to see new life. “I saw this as a chance to put them to work again,” he added.
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source: people.com
