Most know the now famous line from the film Apocalypse Now, which showed Robert Duvall standing in a bombed out field saying:“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” The guy who actually said that was Colonel David Hackworth.
“Apocalypse Now” was based on Hackworth's Vietnam service. He was the inspiration for both the Robert Duvall Air Calvary commander (Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore) and the Marlon Brando guerrilla character (Colonel Kurtz). Director Francis Ford Coppola asked Hackworth to consult on the film, but he declined.
General Mukoyama served as a company commander under Colonel David Hackworth in Vietnam. Hackworth was one of the most highly-decorated Infantry Officers in the history of the United States Army. Here’s the General with the story of the legendary Col. David Hackworth.