Colonel Bidwell, was a U.S. Army colonel who made a one-time appearance in the Season 5 episode of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H titled "The General's Practitioner". The part of Colonel Bidwell was played in the episode by Leonard Stone.
About Colonel Bidwell[]
Colonel Bidwell is the Operations Officer of I Corps, the superior headquarters of the 4077th MASH as well as the personal aide to I Corps Commander Lieutenant General Theodore A. Korshak. Early in the episode, Bidwell comes to the 4077th asking Potter for his best doctor because Korshak is looking for a personal physician.
Potter tells him Hawkeye is his best surgeon but not the right man for the job because he is a maverick, "not G.I." and not even housebroken. Bidwell says he appreciates Potter's candor but wants to see Hawkeye in action anyway.
He is taken to the O.R. where he watches Hawkeye successfully revive a patient whose heart had stopped. As Bidwell moves closer to watch, Hawkeye tells him to get out of his way and leave the O.R. Bidwell leaves but he has been suitably impressed.
Outside the O.R. Bidwell tells Potter that Hawkeye is a fine doctor but a bit undisciplined. Potter agrees, Hawkeye hates brass and is hot-tempered, and adds that this was one of Hawkeye's better days. Bidwell good-naturedly accepts and says he will add all these observations in his report to the General. However he is puzzled by a statement that he heard Hawkeye made in the O.R.: "Don't let the bastard win!" Potter tells Bidwell "the bastard" refers to Death. When it comes to death, Hawkeye is a sore loser. Bidwell reflects on whether such an obsession is healthy: "It's a part of life, part of war. And we're soldiers." Not so, Potter says. Hawkeye is only humoring them by wearing the uniform. He will always take death personally. Prophetically, Bidwell says that's an attitude that could one day cause Hawkeye to crack up; which indeed happens to Hawkeye in the last episode.