In Joe Haldeman's 'The Forever War', what is the name of the protagonist?

In Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War, the protagonist is William Mandella. He begins the novel as a physics student who is conscripted into the United Nations Exploratory Force during humanity’s war with the Taurans.

Mandella is selected for an elite military unit because of his intelligence, education, physical fitness, and aptitude for advanced training. He travels through collapsars, a form of faster-than-light transit, but the relativistic effects of near-light-speed travel cause centuries to pass for humanity while only years pass for him. As a result, Mandella becomes increasingly alienated from the Earth he knew.

Marygay Potter is another major character and Mandella’s closest emotional connection, but she is not the protagonist. Hassan is a fellow soldier, while Charles is not the novel’s central narrator. Mandella’s name is also a near-anagram of Haldeman’s surname, and his background reflects aspects of Haldeman’s own military experience during the Vietnam era. The novel was first published in 1974.