Charlie Don't Surf Military Vietnam War T-Shirt

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John Milius later revealed that the expression "Charlie Don't Surf" was inspired by a comment made by former Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during the Six-Day War of 1967.

Apocalypse Now’ is a film that shows the savagery and the truth behind civilization; hence why it’s one of the most famous movies of all time. In an interview with Rolling Stone, John was asked about how the viewers and the Vietnamese veterans reacted to the premiere showing of his movie. In which he said, If I say it's safe to surf this beach, Captain, it's safe to surf this beach! I mean, I'm not afraid to surf this place! I'll surf this f-----g place!" They rendezvous with Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore (Robert Duvall), another enthusiastic surfer, and a group of wave-riding fanatics begins to take shape.Apparently, after winning a battle in Aqaba, Sharon went spear diving, shot some fish, ate them with his crew, and said: "we're eating their fish," as if saying, "We got here, destroyed everything, and now we're also taking your fish." In the movie, teenage soldiers led the battle in the Vietnam war. It’s a representation of how the Californian culture and power are taking over and assaulting the Asian culture. From how they were hopping down the helicopter and putting flame jobs in their gun pods, mindlessly shooting over the line of napalm trees of the village, to how they surfed the waves after they’ve taken over the local’s land. The iconic line “Charlie Don’t Surf” didn’t just add an additional flare to the surfing culture, it also became an inspiration for songs, game themes, and art pieces. The following are just some examples: American soldiers often referred to their Viet Cong enemies as "VC," the initials for the NATO phonetic code words "Victor Charlie." The famous and memorable surfing moments in the movie were shot at Baler Beach in the Philippines. At the time, the film production left behind a few surfboards, which local kids used to learn how to surf.

During the film shooting, the locals observed the actors and how surfing worked, so when the production crew left their surfboards after filming, the children took over the boards and used them to surf. Today, Baler is one of the surfing attractions of the Philippines, and it’s also hailed as the ‘Surfing Capital’ of the country.John Milius stated that he wanted to underline the Vietnam War's West Coast touch, mainly because "our culture was centered at this time in California, with the hippies and everything."