Fred Rexer

Fred Ludwig Rexer, Jr. (November 30, 1946 - August 27, 2021) was a U.S. Army Vietnam combat veteran and Hollywood actor and screenwriter. He was best known as the military advisor for Apocalypse Now and as Spiritual Advisor for Conan the Barbarian. (Rexor, the Ben Davidson character in Conan, was named after Fred.) In the opening scenes of Red Dawn, he played the paratroop commander, and later the knife-wielding Russian tank commander gunned down at the service station. Rexer contributed numerous passages to the screenplay of that film and other films written or directed by John Milius and Walter Hill. Milius has named Rexer as the real-life prototype of Captain Willard, the protagonist of Apocalypse Now. Rexer was a federally licensed machine gun dealer, who held a Class 3 Dealer's license from the BATFE (of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury at the time), selling items listed under the National Firearms Act of 1934, from his Texas business, and he engaged in that business through at least through the 1970s.Rexer died August 27, 2021, in Texas. His obituary cited the following military service: 38 months in Vietnam from 1965 to 1968, including two tours with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), as well as a tour with the 120th Assault Helicopter Company (AHC), "Razorbacks." His awards included the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with Valor and oak leaf cluster, 21 Air Medals, and 6 Purple Hearts.