Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now (1979). Photo by Steve Schapiro/Corbis.
Vitals
Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin L. Willard, U.S. Army Special Forces officer
South Vietnam to Cambodia, Summer 1969
Film: Apocalypse Now
Release Date: August 15, 1979
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Supervisor: Charles E. James
Costumers: Luster Bayless, Norman A. Burza, Dennis Fill, and George L. Little
Background
Francis Ford Coppola’s controversial war epic Apocalypse Now was first released 45 years ago today on August 15, 1979.
Shooting had started more than three years earlier in March 1976 with an initial plan to release on Coppola’s 38th birthday, April 7, 1977, but the production was delayed by logistics problems, unpredictable weather, and personnel issues ranging from Marlon Brando’s mercurial temperament and Martin Sheen’s stress-induced heart attack to grave-robbers attempting to sell actual human corpses to the production.
“We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane,” Coppola recalled in an interview used to begin the 1991 documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse that chronicled the film’s troubled production.
After filming wrapped in May 1977 (more than one month after the original intended release date), Coppola busied himself on editing over a million feet of film as the already bloated budget continued to swell and the released date was pushed farther ahead. Coppola debuted the work-in-progress at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, where it was met with prolonged applause and was awarded the Palme d’Or.
Three months later, the freshly completed Apocalypse Now finally landed in North American theaters, albeit only three at first—the Ziegield in New York City, the Cinerama Dome in L.A., and the University Theatre in Toronto—until it would be released in over 300 more theaters by October. The $9 million spent on advertising increased the final total budget to $45 million… considerably higher than the $2 million that Coppola, John Milius, and George Lucas had estimated to spend on it back in 1971.
The project had dated back even four years before that to 1967, when Lucas and Steven Spielberg had told Coppola’s then-assistant Milius to write a film about the ongoing war in Vietnam. Following Coppola’s direction to “write every scene you ever wanted to go into that movie,” Milius ultimately wrote ten drafts that blended contemporary anecdotes around the Vietnam War with allegorical inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella Heart of Darkness. Once Coppola took over directorial control from Lucas, he also incorporated elements from Werner Herzog’s 1972 epic Aguirre, the Wrath of God and the legend of the Fisher King.
The story that emerged on screen centered around U.S. Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen), a troubled but talented paratrooper dispatched by the Studies and Operations Group (MACV-SOG) to assassinate the renegade Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a power-mad colonel ruthlessly commanding a rogue force of American, Montagnard, and local Khmer militia troops who view him as a demigod. Without the four-person crew being aware of his classified mission, Captain Willard joins a U.S. Navy patrol boat that takes him up the Nùng River to Kurtz’s outpost at a Khmer temple in Cambodia, where he has been ordered to “terminate the Colonel’s command… with extreme prejudice.”
After millions of dollars and years of literal blood, sweat, tears, Apocalypse Now grossed more than $100 million worldwide, won in two of the eight Academy Award categories where it was nominated, and remains considered by many to be among the greatest movies of all time.
What’d He Wear?
OG-107 Tropical Combat Uniform
When Captain Willard is summoned to meet with the military intelligence officers who assign him his mission, he matches them in the standard olive-drab (OG-107) Tropical Combat Uniform (TCU). Made from a 5.5-oz. wind-resistant cotton poplin, this uniform was designed by Natick Labs in 1962 in response to a request from the U.S. Army Material Command for something light-wearing but durable for personnel to withstand the rigors of warfare in the jungles of southeast Asia. Thus, the four-pocket shirt-jacket (specified as MIL-C-43199) that comprised the top half of the uniform was known as the “jungle jacket”.
With its asymmetrically slanted chest pockets and larger bellows pockets over the hips, the jungle jacket took some design inspiration from the M1942 “jump jacket” authorized for paratroopers during World War II. The pocket flaps on the 1st pattern jungle jacket closed with two exposed buttons through each flap. After wearers complained that these exposed buttons had a tendency to snag in the jungle, the 2nd pattern was authorized in January 1965 with covered buttons. The garment continued to evolve with the removal of the shoulder epaulets for the 3rd pattern, transitioning to a hardier cotton ripstop for the 4th and 5th patterns.
Given the jacket’s covered buttons and lack of epaulets and the cotton poplin cloth, Willard appears to be wearing the 3rd pattern TCU that was first produced in 1966. This includes matching flat-front fatigue trousers (MIL-T-43217) with belt loops and adjustable side-tabs, a five-button fly, slanted side pockets, set-in back pockets with asymmetrical flaps, and flapped cargo pockets with leg ties and drain holes; as with the jacket, all the trouser pocket buttons are concealed in the flaps.
Willard and the noncoms escorting him to the MACV-SOG meeting are all clad in OG-107 tropical combat uniforms and matching field caps.
For more history about Tropical Combat Uniform fatigues and “jungle jackets”, I highly recommend the comprehensive and illustrated guides at Moore Militaria and Vietnam Gear.
Tiger Stripe Camouflage
Willard sets out on his mission wearing fatigues patterned in the famous “tiger stripe” camouflage pattern that U.S. Special Operations personnel adopted from the South Vietnamese military. Based on the TAP 47 “lizard pattern” uniforms worn by the French during the First Indochina War, the Republic of Vietnam military developed its own unique pattern of camouflage that would be adopted by the Marine Division and select ARVN units.
As the United States expanded its involvement in Vietnam during the early 1960s, USMAAG “advisors” assigned to the ARVN were permitted to wear the combat uniforms of their corresponding Vietnamese units, adorned with their own U.S. insignia. The U.S. military never officially issued tiger stripe camouflage and many ARVN uniforms were too small for American physiques, so American service members authorized to wear it often had their camo fatigues custom-made by local tailors across southeast Asia, resulting in a variety of patterns and color shades.
Despite these subtle variances, all Vietnam-era tiger stripe tend to present the same interlocking series of irregular brush-stroked stripes in green, brown, black, and either olive or khaki, nicknamed for their resemblance to a tiger’s striped coat. Richard Denis Johnson went to considerable lengths to identify the variations in his 1999 volume Tiger Patterns: A Guide to the Vietnam War’s Tigerstripe Combat Fatigue Patterns and Uniforms, in which he identifies the specific pattern worn by Captain Willard as “John Wayne Dense” in reference to Duke wearing this dense arrangement of tan-outlined black, green and brown tiger stripes in the 1968 film The Green Berets.
Willard’s tiger-striped fatigues consists of a matching shirt-jacket and trousers in what collectors describes as the classic “advisor cut”, with the camo pattern silk-screened onto a light-wearing cotton twill cloth.
The trim shirt-jacket has six olive urea dish buttons up to the neck, fashioned with a convertible collar. The two squared bellows pockets over the chest each close with two-button rectangular flaps—a signature detail of the advisor cut—plus an additional pocket (said to be for bandages or cigarettes) on the upper left sleeve with a single-button squared flap. Willard typically unbuttons the long sleeves and wears them securely rolled up over his elbows.
All of Willard’s sewn-on insignia patches are in the “subdued” pattern of black embroidered against an olive ground. He wears the two black bars indicating his rank of Captain (O-3) on his right collar leaf, and he wears the Army’s infantry branch insignia of two crossed rifles.
On his upper right sleeve, he wears the merrowed tab and badge for the 173rd Airborne Brigade “Sky Soldiers”. On the upper left sleeve, he wears the merrowed “Rangers” tab for his service in the U.S. Army Rangers, arced above the merrowed shield-shaped badge for the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) consisting of a sword flanked by slanted battlements.
Stacked atop the “U.S. ARMY” name tape above his left pocket flap, Willard wears the U.S. Army Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and the Military Parachutist Badge (or “jump wings”) designed by William P. Yarborough. On the opposing side, above his “WILLARD” name tape positioned above the right pocket flap, he wears the Vietnamese Parachute Qualification Badge often awarded to U.S. advisors and Special Forces personnel for their service with South Vietnamese airborne units. Though the color version of the badge shows a gold embroidered star suspended from the wings, the subdued variation recolors the star as olive-drab to match the rest of the badge.
Willard’s flat-front fatigue trousers also follow the “advisor cut” conventions, also made from a lightweight cotton twill. The trousers have belt loops, though Willard’s black web belt covers whether or not they also have the two-button adjuster tabs that sometimes supplemented the waistband. The 1.25″-wide belt fastens through a silver-toned skeletonized “combat buckle”.
The array of pockets includes slanted “quarter top” side pockets, two bellows-style back pockets and an additional bellows-style cargo pockets over each thigh—all with two-button squared flaps to close, like on the shirt-jacket. A smaller additional utility pocket is positioned lower on the left leg, with a single-button squared flap. The bottoms are plain-hemmed and light enough to be bloused into the tops of his jungle boots or, if preferred, cuffed and rolled up to his knees like shorts.
Willard alternates between wearing his trousers rolled up to the knees or fully extended to the ankle hems.
More Army Gear
Willard wears the standard composite M1966 Jungle Boots, developed by Natick Laboratories as an update to the M1945 Tropical Combat Boots that were still issued to U.S. Army personnel in the early years of hostilities in Vietnam.
These 8″-tall combat boots were specifically designed for jungle warfare, taking advantage of technology and fabrics not yet available or standardized during the ’40s. The uppers are comprised of OG-107 canvas shafts (initially made of cotton duck, then nylon), fused to the black leather heel quarters and plain-toe vamps that overlap near the wearer’s arches. Two screened brass drainage eyelets positioned on the inside of each arch were intended to drain out moist mud. The black laces are derby-laced through nine sets of black-finished eyelets.
Natick was also commissioned to develop technology that would protect wearers from enemy punji stake traps and nails. Their initial solution was providing slip-in stainless insoles that were determined to cause significant blistering, resulting in their more successful development of integrated spike-protective insoles.
Like other wartime gear, the M1966 Jungle Boots evolved in response to field feedback and design advancements, including replacing the black leather collars and backstays with green 1″ nylon webbing and updating the initial Vibram soles with the mud-clearing Panama sole tread pattern authorized from April 1968 onward.
After white T-shirts were found to be overly conspicuous during World War II, the U.S. military began authorizing undershirts in olive-drab cloth, beginning with wool-and-cotton blends before transitioning to the cooler-wearing 100% cotton and polyester/cotton blends by the time troops were being deployed to the hot jungles of Vietnam. According to Vietnam Gear, troops were issued five olive T-shirts (MIL-U-44096) and matching cotton muslin boxer shorts (MIL-D-40099) upon their arrival in Vietnam. Captain Willard wears his OG-109 green crew-neck short-sleeved undershirt under his tiger-stripe fatigue jacket and on its own.
Willard often ties a plain black kerchief around his neck. To my knowledge, the Army only issued olive-drab neckerchiefs during the Vietnam War, so this may have been a silk USN neckerchief borrowed from the personnel manning the PBR taking him up the river. Willard co-opting the kerchief nods to the practical service they had served as a sweat-catcher centuries earlier, before the Navy authorized it with a square knot to be worn with its iconic “crackerjack” blue and white enlisted service dress uniforms.
The World War II-era M1 “steel pot” helmet remained in service through the ’80s, with most personnel deployed to Vietnam issued with a a reversible cotton cover in the “Mitchell” camouflage pattern that consisted of a green leafy “summer” print on one side and a brown cloud-like “winter” print on the other, intended to counter the way light reflected off the M1’s green-painted steel shells. (You can read more about the Mitchell pattern helmet covers at Vietnam Gear.)
Developed in 1953 for U.S. Marine Corps “shelter half” tents, the Mitchell pattern was initially tested—and rejected—for uniforms before it was adopted at the end of the decade as Army and Marine Corps helmet covers, making it the first widely issued camouflage uniform element in the history of the U.S. Army. Though reversible, the green leaf-patterned side was most typically worn in Vietnam as modeled by Willard, who also has his subdued black-on-green captain rank insignia sewn onto the front of the helmet cover.
Willard wears the typical Army-issue silver dog tags with his identifying information, eventually taped together to prevent them from noisily clanging around. He also sheaths the silver ball-chain necklace in a translucent plastic tube, protecting the chain from moisture and also keeping the chain from snagging on his neck and chest hair. As a member of the Army, his dog tags would have four lines, with his name (“Willard, Benjamin L.”) first, followed by social security number, blood type, and religion.
Willard straps on the M1956 Individual Equipment Belt (MIL-B-40158) issued by the Army during the Vietnam War. Made of olive-drab cotton webbing, this 2¼”-wide belt maintained the design of the M1936 Pistol Belt with its three rows of eyelets intended to accommodate suspenders (onto the top row), adjust the fit (around the middle row), and attach double-hook fixture equipment (on the bottom row). The M1956 also improved upon the earlier design as the length could now be adjusted from both ends. Willard wears the older belt pattern with the gunmetal M1936-style ball-type buckle before it was replaced with a Davis “T-slot” fastener in 1967, per Vietnam Gear.
Hooked onto the right side of his pistol belt, Willard carries his M1911A1 in the standard black leather M1916 .45 Pistol Holster that, per its designation, dates back more than 50 years from the film’s setting to the World War I years when the M1911 was first entering U.S. service. The back part of the holster extends over the top of the gun butt to form the low-hanging flap that is embossed with “U.S.” and closes through a single brass post.
Seiko Dive Watch
Willard’s robust Seiko ref. 6105-8110 dive watch has grown so associated with Sheen’s character that many collectors refer to this third generation of Seiko divers as the “Seiko Captain Willard”. Though introduced in 1970, just one year after Apocalypse Now is set, the choice still had historical provenance. “The 6105 was a very popular choice with US military servicemen in the Vietnam war era and was available from the PX stores (retail stores found on United States military installations) for soldiers,” writes Christoph McNeill for Worn & Wound.
The ref. 6105-8110 was released alongside the ref. 6105-8119, essentially the same watch but released in different markets. Powered by Seiko’s self-winding caliber 6105B movement and water-resistant to 150 meters, both ref. 6105 Seiko divers have an asymmetrical stainless steel 44mm cushion case with a screw-down crown aligned with the 4 o’clock position and fortified within the case’s integrated guards. A rotating aluminum bezel with a black insert encircles the Hardlex crystal protecting the round black dial, which is detailed with luminous tritium non-numeric squared hour indices—including two at the top for 12 o’clock—and a white-wheeled date window at the 3 o’clock position. “And let’s not forget that awesome ‘traffic light’ seconds hand with its polygonal plot of lume and bright red dot sweeping around the dial,” adds Ed Jelley for Worn & Wound.
Willard wears his Seiko on a black waffle-textured tropic rubber strap.
As outlined by Cole Pennington for Hodinkee, the Seiko ref. 6105 was worn by not only the fictional Captain Willard but also a score of real-life professionals ranging from astronaut David Williams and aquanaut Ann Hartline to adventurer Naomi Uemura, who wore his Seiko 6105-8110 during the legendary 1978 expedition when he became the first person in recorded history to reach the North Polo solo. Combined with its screen role in a cinematic classic, this real-life usage established the ref. 6105’s earned legacy that far outlived its original seven-year production timeline.
In response to its long-term popularity, Seiko issued updated iterations of these 1970s Prospex dive watches, first with the SLA033 produced in a limited run of 2,500 in 2019. This was followed by Seiko’s wider June 2020 launch of the SPB151 and SPB153 models, differing only by their metal link bracelet and silicone strap, respectively. Powered by the caliber 6R35 movement, these 42.7mm-cased stainless steel watches have an increased water resistance to 200 meters and (as of 2024) remain available in black and or green bezel/dial combinations.
The Guns
Holstered on his right hip, Captain Willard carries the classic M1911A1 semi-automatic pistol that had served as the standard American service pistol for decades. John Browning’s initial M1911 design was formally adopted by the U.S. Army in March 1911, followed by the Navy and Marine Corps two years later. During the 1920s, the pistol was redesigned with a shorter trigger, arched mainspring housing, shortened hammer spur but longer grip safety spur, and wider front sight, redesignated as the M1911A1 and in American service until the 1980s, when it was generally phased out in favor of the Beretta 92FS (M9) pistol.
Though its dimensions, caliber, and capacity have varied with more manufacturers putting their own spin on the pistol, a true 1911 follows the operational characteristics of Browning’s short-recoil design and single-action trigger. The classic mil-spec M1911 and M1911A1 pistols made by the likes of Colt and Springfield Armory have a blued steel or parkerized finish with brown wooden or faux-wooden plastic grip panels and are fed from seven-round box magazines of powerful .45 ACP ammunition.
Captain Willard’s M1911A1 between the sheets in his Saigon hotel room.
Willard is armed with the standard M16A1 battle rifle, loaded with “curved” 30-round box magazines. Officially designated the “Rifle, Caliber 5.56mm, M16”, the M16 series was adapted for the military from the gas-operated ArmaLite AR-15 designed by Eugene Stoner in the 1950s. Following ArmaLite’s early financial difficulties, the rights to the AR-10 and AR-15 were sold to Colt, who took over development and production.
The U.S. Air Force was the first branch to issue a rifle from this series when it adopted the M16 in 1964, and the first M16 rifles were deployed with troops to Vietnam the following year. Following a few improvements that included the addition of a forward assist and a rib on the side receiver to isolate the magazine release from the ejection port, the U.S. Army XM16E1 was formally designated the “M16A1″ and entered production in July 1967.
The 20”-barreled M16 and M16A1 are cosmetically similar with triangular handguards and plain fixed buttstocks, with a small compartment added to the latter for the M16A1 to store a cleaning kit. The “birdcage” flash hider muzzle device and windage-adjustable rear sight became known as the “A1” style after these evolved for future M16 designs. The three-mode selective fire trigger group can be toggled between safe, semi-automatic, and fully automatic.
For its first two decades, the M16 rifle series fired .223 Remington ammunition, the parent case for the 5.56×45mm NATO round that would be developed in the late 1970s and introduced on the M16A2 variant.
What to Imbibe
Willard frequently processes “the horror, the horror” of ‘Nam with Martell Cordon Bleu, drank neat. The oldest of the “big four” cognac houses, Martell was founded by French merchant Jean Martell in 1715. His combination of Borderie grapes and Tronçais oak casks resulted in a particularly smooth cognac that grew in popularity when Martell’s family began exporting it after his death.
Martell launched the Cordon Bleu expression at the Hôtel de Paris in 1912, and it remains considered the oldest XO (“extra old”) cognac still in production. Martell Cordon Bleu grew its prestige as the chosen spirit for global celebrations like the King George V’s coronation, the maiden voyage of the RMS Queen Mary in 1936, and aboard the supersonic Concorde, making it an ironic choice for a special forces captain to drown his sorrows while tasked with an extralegal assassination.
Willard pours himself some Martell Cordon Bleu.
Despite his preference for eminent cognacs, Willard is no snob and comfortably tosses back cans of Schlitz when embedded with Colonel Kilgore’s cavalry unit. Founded by August Krug in 1849, Schlitz advertised itself as “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous” and was one of the most prominent and best-selling American brews through the first half of the 20th century, maintaining competition with Anheuser-Busch until the mid-1970s.
1976 turned the tide against Schlitz, when it was forced to switch its anti-haze agent in the wake of FDA label regulations. The subsequent recall of 10 million bottles cost Schlitz over a million dollars, at a time when the brewery was already struggling against competition from light beers. Schlitz’s reputation and status continued to decline after an oddly threatening 1977 TV ad campaign, a Milwaukee plant strike in 1981, and sale to the Stroh Brewing Company.
Under Stroh’s management, Schlitz languished as a bargain beer in the shadow of its previous market dominance until the brand was acquired by Pabst when it purchased Stroh in 1999. Pabst extensively researched the original Schlitz formula to rebuild the beer to how it tasted to drinkers at the height of its popularity in the ’60s, and the revitalized Schlitz launched in 2008 remains a nostalgic favorite—particularly in the Midwestern United States.
Willard takes a long pull from a can of Schlitz, amidst an army of Budweisers that may or may not have been his.
Captain Willard’s Uniform
Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now (1979)
There are ways to incorporate a dash of Captain Willard’s special forces style into your look without stealing valor by appropriating military gear and insignia, like pairing a plain olive T-shirt with tiger stripe pants or shorts, lacing up a set of jungle boots, or strapping on a new or reissued Seiko “Captain Willard” diver.
- Tiger stripe fatigues in “John Wayne dense” tan-outlined green, black, and brown camouflage:
- Long-sleeved shirt-jacket with convertible collar, 6-button plain front, two bellows chest pockets (with 2-button squared flaps), upper left-sleeve utility pocket (with 1-button squared flap), and button cuffs
- Flat-front trousers with belt loops, slanted “quarter top” side pockets, bellows back pockets (with 2-button squared flaps), bellows cargo pockets (with 2-button squared flaps), lower leg leg utility pocket (with 1-button squared flap), and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Black cotton web belt with silver-toned skeletonized combat buckle
- Black leather-and-olive canvas M1966 “jungle boots” with plain-toe, 9-eyelet derby-laced system, and black rubber lug soles
- Olive-drab cotton crew-neck short-sleeve T-shirt
- Black silk U.S. Navy-issue neckerchief
- Olive cotton web M1956 Individual Equipment Belt with three rows of grommets and gunmetal-finished ball-type buckle
- Black leather M1916 .45 Pistol Holster with post-secured flap
- M1 green-painted steel helmet with green leaf-printed “Mitchell pattern” cotton cover and subdued captain’s rank insignia
- Silver ID “dog tags” (taped together) on a silver ball-chain necklace (inside a clear plastic tube)
- Seiko ref. 6105-8110 stainless steel dive watch with 44mm cushion case and guarded 4 o’clock crown, aluminum rotating bezel with black insert, black dial with luminous non-numeric squared hour indices and 3 o’clock white-wheeled date window, and black waffle-textured tropic rubber strap
If you’re interested in recreating Willard’s uniform for cosplay purposes, Moore Militaria offers badge and full uniform packages for sale, though you can also pick up individual pieces of the look such as a mil-spec drab T-shirt (from Moore Militaria), ARVN “Advisor” cut tiger-stripe trousers (from Buzz Rickson’s), and jungle boots (from Medals of America).
Classic “Willard” ref. 6105-8110 Seiko divers are often sold from secondhand dealers, though Seiko’s reissued SPB151 and SPB153 watches could also suit wearers seeking an update.
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie, though several versions have been released: the theatrical Apocalypse Now released in 1979, the extended Apocalypse Now Redux that appeared in 2001, and Coppola’s ultimate Apocalypse Now Final Cut released for the film’s 40th anniversary.
The Quote
The bullshit piled up so fast in Vietnam, you needed wings to stay above it.
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