He is devoted to his wife Peg (née Hayden) who writes many letters to him while he is in Korea. The couple have a daughter, Erin, who was born shortly before B.J. left for Korea. He is a skilled surgeon, willing to take extraordinary measures to save a patient. For example, he's willing to undertake an experimental procedure (for the time) by using a primitive open-chest defibrillator and open-chest heart massage.