A surgical stapler comprising: a body; a stapling assembly positioned at a distal portion of the body, the stapling assembly including a cartridge assembly supporting staples and an anvil assembly; an alignment pin mounted on the stapling assembly and configured to engage the anvil assembly; a clamp slide member slidably disposed within the body, the cartridge assembly supported adjacent a distal portion of the clamp slide member, the clamp slide member being movable from a retracted position to an advanced position to approximate the cartridge assembly towards the anvil assembly; a thrust bar slidably disposed within the body and operably connected to the cartridge assembly to cause release of the staples therefrom upon complete distal advancement of the thrust bar; the alignment pin is mounted on the stapler assembly, so that it is configured to capture tissue between the cartridge and anvil assemblies during approximation and firing; and characterized in that the following is provided: (i) a pin alignment visual indicator, and a pin receiving mechanism positioned on the anvil assembly and configured to illuminate the pin alignment visual indicator upon engagement of the alignment pin with the anvil assembly. a body; a stapling assembly positioned at a distal portion of the body, the stapling assembly including a cartridge assembly supporting staples and an anvil assembly; an alignment pin mounted on the stapling assembly and configured to engage the anvil assembly; a clamp slide member slidably disposed within the body, the cartridge assembly supported adjacent a distal portion of the clamp slide member, the clamp slide member being movable from a retracted position to an advanced position to approximate the cartridge assembly towards the anvil assembly; a thrust bar slidably disposed within the body and operably connected to the cartridge assembly to cause release of the staples therefrom upon complete distal advancement of the thrust bar; the alignment pin is mounted on the stapler assembly, so that it is configured to capture tissue between the cartridge and anvil assemblies during approximation and firing; and characterized in that the following is provided: (i) a pin alignment visual indicator, and a pin receiving mechanism positioned on the anvil assembly and configured to illuminate the pin alignment visual indicator upon engagement of the alignment pin with the anvil assembly. a clamp slide member slidably disposed within the body, the cartridge assembly supported adjacent a distal portion of the clamp slide member, the clamp slide member being movable from a retracted position to an advanced position to approximate the cartridge assembly towards the anvil assembly; a thrust bar slidably disposed within the body and operably connected to the cartridge assembly to cause release of the staples therefrom upon complete distal advancement of the thrust bar; the alignment pin is mounted on the stapler assembly, so that it is configured to capture tissue between the cartridge and anvil assemblies during approximation and firing; and characterized in that the following is provided: (i) a pin alignment visual indicator, and a pin receiving mechanism positioned on the anvil assembly and configured to illuminate the pin alignment visual indicator upon engagement of the alignment pin with the anvil assembly. (i) a pin alignment visual indicator, and a pin receiving mechanism positioned on the anvil assembly and configured to illuminate the pin alignment visual indicator upon engagement of the alignment pin with the anvil assembly.