Airborne Ranger

11th Mar 2004

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Corrected entry: Willard is fully decked out with American gear and weaponry. This should not have been allowed; American personnel operating covertly in Laos and Cambodia were carefully re-equipped with enemy, untraceable, or foreign weapons (e.g. the Swedish K submachine gun) and clothing. If they were captured or killed, the USA could then deny any knowledge of these technically illegal missions - much harder to do if they're sporting an army-issue M16 and regulation clothing.

Correction: There are several possible explanations: The M-16 could belong to the PBR. But M-16s were very much in use also on covert operations. A Swedish submachine gun, as well as the sometimes used silenced Sten-gun, is as traceable to US forces as any American weapon. Willard's uniform is actually Cambodian, although widely used by US Special Forces.

Airborne Ranger

Correction: Tiger Stripes were ARVN uniforms, widely used by American Special Forces and LRRP units.