‘Bald, rawhide skinny, just under six feet tall’: The real soldier behind Robert Duvall’s role in ‘Apocalypse Now’ | film

TActor Robert Duvall, who died this week, was known for many memorable movie roles, but none were better than his breakout turn as Stetson-wearing Lt. Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. In Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War epic, Duvall plays a helicopter squadron commander who flies into battle with Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” blaring from the speakers and uttering the immortal phrase: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

Duvall’s scene-stealing portrayal earned him two BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor as well as an Academy Award nomination in that category. What is less known is that his character was based on a real officer who fought in Vietnam. Lt. Col. John B. Stockton was hard to miss. Like Duvall in the film, he wore a black Stetson and spurs on his shoes. He carried his papers in leather briefcases, and his unit’s mascot, a mule named Maggie, was even smuggled into Vietnam despite a strict “no pets” policy. He actually played Wagner from the side-mounted speakers mounted on his helicopter when he got down to business.

Duvall, the son of a US Navy admiral, has confirmed in interviews discussing his role in Apocalypse Now that he studied Stockton’s novels and similar characters when he was preparing to play Kilgore. Stockton’s style choices were not random. In his book Pleiku: Dawn of Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam, military historian J.D. Coleman described him as: “bald, thin-skinned, a little under six feet tall, [Stockton] He had the handlebar mustache of an old cavalry man. When he was seen without the hood, he looked a lot like Yul Brynner with facial hair. Stockton was commander of the 1st Squadron of the 9th Air Cavalry Regiment and had an emphasis on the word “cavalry.” For Stockton, the helicopter soldiers in Vietnam were a contemporary incarnation of the American cavalry from the frontier wars against Native Americans in the nineteenth century.

The familiar Vietnam War image of American infantry “grunts” descending by helicopter into forested areas and rice paddies was actually the result of a new tactical doctrine that emerged in the late 1950s, inspired by the speed and mobility of cavalry from an earlier era. Helicopters were introduced into the US Army during the Korean War, but were mostly used to transport wounded soldiers to field hospitals, as in the 1970 film M*A*S*H. The idea of ​​using them to revolutionize infantry warfare is credited to Lieutenant General James “Jumpin’ Jim” Gavin, a highly decorated World War II veteran who, by 1957, was head of the US Army’s Research and Development Division. Having experienced the pros, and especially the cons, of sending men into battle by parachute, he formulated a new tactic: his “horses” would be troop-carrying helicopters capable of delivering soldiers to crucial points on the battlefield with speed and precision.

The Air Cavalry began operating in Vietnam in 1965 and Stockton was not the only officer drawing on his horse soldier heritage. When the 1st Cavalry Division was shipped to Vietnam, many of its officers enthusiastically embraced the image of their hardworking predecessors. Stetsons, knight moustaches, whips, six-pointed archers, and other equipment were routinely adopted, despite the best efforts of the more conservative elements of the command.

Disappointingly, Stockton is not recorded as having uttered the famous phrase “napalm”; Apocalypse Now screenwriter John Milius says the words came to him when he was working on the script in the late 1960s. Stockton never recorded being cast as Lt. Colonel Kilgore, but his Army colleagues said it amused him.

Stockton’s subsequent career was marked by controversy. He was recognized as a pioneer of new “air mobile” tactics and led his squadron with a great deal of daring and skill during the early stages of the Battle of La Drange, the first major American ground battle against North Vietnamese forces. During heavy fighting in November 1965, he was told that a US infantry company was about to be overrun and annihilated; He requested permission to send reinforcements, but was refused. Stockton advanced anyway and sent helicopters with extra men. His actions were credited with saving the lives of 100 American and Allied troops, but because he ignored a direct order, he was removed from command. He retained his rank but played no further role in the conflict.

Although officially disgraced, he retained strong affection for the men who served under him. They saw him siding with the common soldier against senior commanders who were often negligent regarding the fate of their men. Stockton died in 1997 at the age of 74.

Joseph Houlihan’s book Vietnam on the Big Screen: How the Vietnam War Changed Hollywood is published by Pen and Sword (£20). To support The Guardian, order your copy from guardianbookshop.com