Full Metal Jacket

“Smell that? You smell that? … Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn’t find one of ’em, not one stinkin’ dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell? The whole hill. Smelled like… victory. Someday this war’s gonna end.”

I think about this line in the movie every once in a while.

I took me a long time to realize Colonel Kilgore was actually sad that the war would someday end.

I took just another second to realize that it may have been the only thing this man had in life. His raison d’etre as they say.

Then the scene is that much sadder and more horrific at once.