The actor Robert Duvall, who died this week, is known for many memorable movie roles, but none so much as his cameo as the Stetson-wearing Lt Col Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. In Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam war epic Duvall plays the commander of a helicopter squadron who flies into battle with Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries blaring from loudspeakers and utters the immortal line: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
Duvall’s scene-stealing portrayal earned him Bafta and Golden Globe awards for best supporting actor as well as an Oscar nomination in that category. What is less well 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 movie, he wore a black Stetson and spurs on his boots. He carried his papers in leather saddlebags and even had his unit’s mascot, a mule called Maggie, smuggled into Vietnam despite a strict “no pets” policy. And he really did play Wagner from side-mounted speakers fixed to his helicopter when going into action.
Duvall as Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. Photograph: United Artists/Moviestore/Shutterstock
Duvall, the son of a rear admiral in the US navy, confirmed in interviews discussing his part in Apocalypse Now that he studied accounts of Stockton and similar characters when preparing to play Kilgore. Stockton’s style choices were not random. In his book Pleiku: The Dawn of Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam, military historian JD Coleman describes him as: “Balding, rawhide-lean, just under six feet tall, [Stockton] had the handlebar moustache of the old time cavalryman. When viewed without his headgear, he looked a lot like a Yul Brynner with facial hair.” Stockton was commander of 1st Squadron, 9th Air Cavalry Regiment and was fixated on the word “cavalry”. To Stockton, the helicopter soldiers of Vietnam were a contemporary embodiment of US cavalry bluecoats from the frontier wars against Native Americans in the 19th century.
Lt Col John B Stockton, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 17th Cavalry Regiment, in 1965. Photograph: @USArmy
The familiar Vietnam war image of US infantry “grunts” being helicoptered into jungle clearings and paddy fields was in fact the outcome of a new tactical doctrine that emerged in the late 1950s, inspired by the speed and mobility of mounted cavalry from an earlier era. Helicopters were introduced into the US army during the Korean war, but mostly for carrying wounded soldiers to field hospitals, as in the 1970 movie M*A*S*H. The idea of using them to revolutionise infantry warfare is credited to Lt Gen James “Jumpin’ Jim” Gavin, a highly decorated second world war veteran who, by 1957, was head of research and development for the US army. 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 of a battlefield with speed and precision.
Former army commander Lt Col John Stockton speaking at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 2015. Photograph: Army News Service
The Air Cavalry began operating in Vietnam in 1965 and Stockton was not the only officer to lean into the horse soldier heritage. When the 1st Cavalry Division shipped to Vietnam many of its officers enthusiastically embraced the image of their hard-riding predecessors. Stetsons, cavalry moustaches, bullwhips, six-shooters and other accoutrements were routinely adopted, despite the best efforts of more conservative command elements.
Disappointingly, Stockton is not recorded as having uttered the famous “napalm” line; Apocalypse Now’s screenwriter John Milius says the words came to him when he was working on the script in the late 1960s. Stockton never went on record about his portrayal as Lt Col Kilgore, but army colleagues said it amused him.
The body of a soldier is carried to an evacuation helicopter by troops from US 1st Cavalry Division in the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965. Photograph: Peter Arnett/AP
Stockton’s subsequent career was marked by controversy. He was recognised as a pioneer of the new “air mobile” tactics and commanded his squadron with considerable daring and panache during the early phases of the battle of Ia Drang, the first big US ground battle against North Vietnamese forces. During intense fighting in November 1965, he was told a US infantry company was about to be overrun and annihilated; he asked permission to send in reinforcements, only to be denied. Stockton went ahead anyway and dispatched helicopters with extra men. His action was credited with saving 100 US and allied lives, but because he had ignored a direct order he was removed from command. He kept his rank but played no further role in the conflict.
Despite being officially disgraced, he retained the strong affection of the men who served under him. They saw him as standing up for the ordinary soldier against senior commanders who were often careless as to 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 at guardianbookshop.com