Apocalypse Now Warfare Quotes

Kilgore's so hopped up on the war that the smell of napalm—a blazing gel that burns people to death—makes him feel great. This is a hint to the viewer that Kilgore has…let's just say, lost perspective. War's a game to him. He's a little wistful when he says that someday the war's gonna end.

Willard thinks that the young guys are probably a little less sentimental about war than Kilgore. "Home" doesn't exist anymore—either because the war has ruined their ability to relate to normal home life or because the tensions over the war have changed the U.S. When then the Vietnam vets got home, in many cases they were treated like murderers and called "baby-killers" because the war was so unpopular.

Lots of the people who called them that, btw, were young people of draft age (19-26) who didn't enlist and were just lucky enough not to get drafted. The Vietnam draft was based on birth dates, which were randomly drawn in a lottery. If you were a man (women weren't in the draft pool) born on September 14, for example, your number came up first and you were called up. They got through the first 195 birthdays and that satisfied the need for servicemen. You can imagine how guys felt sitting by the radio listening to the birthdays being read.

Kilgore might feel invulnerable, but he subjects his men to unnecessary danger, like ordering them to go surfing while a battle is still raging. Willard's right—he does seem to have a force field around him.