Robert Duvall’s real-life inspiration for Apocalypse Now’s Lt Col Kilgore revealed

Robert Duvall drew on a real-life Vietnam officer when he created Stetson-wearing Lt Col Kilgore in Apocalypse Now.

When Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam war epic was released in 1979, Robert – who died on Sunday, February 15 aged 95 – delivered one of cinema’s most memorable cameos, and it has now emerged he modelled the swaggering air cavalry commander on Lt Col John B Stockton, a decorated helicopter squadron leader whose flair for theatrics was as striking as anything on screen.

As Kilgore, Robert is famously seen on screen unforgettably leading a helicopter “charge” with Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries blaring from loudspeakers – and delivering the immortal lines: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like... victory.”

The performance won Robert Bafta and Golden Globe awards for best supporting actor and an Oscar nomination.

Yet the character’s roots lay not in fiction but in the exploits of Stockton, who commanded the 1st Squadron, 9th Air Cavalry Regiment during the early years of the Vietnam conflict.

Robert confirmed in interviews discussing his role he studied accounts of Stockton and similar officers while preparing for the part.

Stockton’s appearance and habits were distinctive.

Like Kilgore, he wore a black Stetson and cavalry spurs on his boots, carried documents in leather saddlebags and had his unit’s mule, Maggie, smuggled into Vietnam despite a strict “no pets” policy.

He also played Wagner from speakers mounted on the sides of his helicopter when flying into action.

In his book Pleiku: The Dawn of Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam, military historian JD Coleman described Stockton as: “Balding, rawhide-lean, just under six feet tall.”

He added: “(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.”

Mr Coleman also wrote Stockton was fixated on the word “cavalry” – seeing helicopter troops as a modern embodiment of 19th-century US horse soldiers.

The air cavalry doctrine that shaped Stockton’s command had emerged in the late 1950s, championed by Lt Gen James ‘Jumpin’ Jim’ Gavin, who advocated using troop-carrying helicopters to deliver soldiers with speed and precision.

When the 1st Cavalry Division deployed to Vietnam in 1965, many officers embraced Stetsons, cavalry moustaches and other frontier-era symbols.

Stockton, who died in 1997 aged 74, later became known for defying orders during the battle of Ia Drang in November 1965 by sending reinforcements to a besieged infantry company – an action credited with saving 100 US and allied lives but which led to his removal from command.

He never publicly commented on Kilgore, though army colleagues said the Apocalypse Now portrayal amused him.