Milius has named Rexer as the real-life prototype of Captain Willard, the protagonist of Apocalypse Now.
In a famous line from the movie 'Apocalypse Now', Captain Willard is told to terminate Colonel Kurtz's commission "with extreme prejudice".
Captain Willard is a U.S. Army officer who has been attached to MACV-SOG to carry out special operations missions, primarily as an assassin.
Part Deux, includes a brief scene in which Charlie is riding a boat up a river in Iraq while on a rescue mission and passes Martin, as Captain Willard, going the other way.
In addition to his Navy Cross, Captain Willard was also honored by France with the Legion of Honor, and the Order of Leopold by the King of Belgium.
Captain Willard, a fictional character portrayed by Martin Sheen in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, was a member of the 173rd assigned to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group.
Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) and his men make an overnight visit to a French plantation along the river, and moviegoers see much more of Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz.
Cast as Captain Willard in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Keitel was involved with the first week of principal photography in the Philippines.
Apocalypse Now (1979) - Captain Willard states that "Charging a man with murder in this place (Vietnam) was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500."
We cooked up "a little rice and rat meat" (as Martin Sheen's Captain Willard says) and hunkered down in front of a TV screen big enough for Marlon Brando.