How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Apocalypse Now.
Quote #1
WILLARD: It's a way we had over here for living with ourselves. We cut 'em in half with a machine gun and gave 'em a Band-Aid. It was a lie. And the more I saw them, the more I hated lies.
Willard sees the hypocrisy that the same commanders who are dropping napalm on villages and burning civilians to death are also performing humanitarian gestures that don't make a huge difference.
Quote #2
COLONEL LUCAS: Did you not assassinate a government tax collector in Quang Tri province, June 19th, 1968? Captain?
WILLARD: Sir, I am unaware of any such activity or operation...nor would I be disposed to discuss such an operation if it did in fact exist, sir.
This is Willard's way of answering "Yes" to this question. Because of the nature of his work, he has to maintain the pretense of acting with intense secrecy even around superior officers who clearly know about his earlier missions.
Quote #3
WILLARD: Oh man...the bulls*** piled up so fast in Vietnam, you needed wings to stay above it.
Willard is talking about how the generals wanted to discharge Kurtz for launching a successful operation without permission. But when the press found out, the generals promoted Kurtz instead. The generals seem to be more concerned with how they're perceived than with pursuing a strategy to win the war.