Granted, the coaches didn't take this theme as far as film director Francis Ford Coppola did in his critically acclaimed Vietnam movie "Apocalypse Now."
But if you ask the 100 players who took part in this 14-day tour through hell, they'll tell you it will be years before Barbers Point fades from view.
"These young men had to be taken to depths where they explored their souls," Benjamin said. "We had to take them down deep to see what they were made out of, to see what life - football life anyway - is all about.
"They had to see how they felt about it. Most of them, at least on the surface, responded really well to the adversity they've faced the last two weeks. It was real tough. I never in all my life saw a team hit this way.
"If nothing else, these guys can look back one day and say that they survived Barbers Point."
Late last Friday afternoon, Glenn Freitas looked like a battle-weary survivor. He walked off the makeshift Barbers Point football field with a slight limp, one shoulder lower than the other.
If there is anyone who epitomizes what this fall camp was supposed to be about, Freitas is it. Once left for dead on the side of the road, Freitas fought harder than anyone else to land a starting role.
He cemented that relationship with the players and coaches only one week into fall camp. Yes, he still throws wobbly passes. And yes, he might not even be the fastest guy in Waianae. But he's the No. 1 quarterback entering this week's season opener with Boston College.
"Fall camp was a chance for us to show the coaches what we can do," Freitas said. "There were a lot of jobs on the line out there, not just mine. This was the toughest two-a-days I've been through in my five years at Hawaii.
"There were some fights. There were some late hits. I guess there was a little bit of everything. But we made it. Now, we're ready to start hitting somebody else, beginning with Boston College."
The thought of hitting someone else for a change brought a smile to many of the faces of the Rainbows. To a man, they enjoyed this experience at different levels.
"It brought us closer as a team," halfback Carlos Shaw said.
"It made us better men," said Shane Oliveira, the team's best offensive lineman.
"We're as prepared mentally as any team I've been around,'' fifth-year senior standout Doe Henderson said.
But will that translate to any victories? Well now, that's the $64,000 question, isn't it?
"Our job during fall camp was to see who wanted to play the most," UH head coach Fred vonAppen said. "I think we came together, but that's a tenuous emotion, especially if you start to lose.
"We have to stay together when the score is 28-0 after the first quarter. We can't hang our heads or start pointing fingers when things go bad. That will be the real test."
And it could come as early as this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a nationally televised game againstBoston College. The Eagles are coming off a mediocre 4-8 season, but they played seven bowl teams last year.
They will be bigger. They will be faster. And on paper at least, they will be better. But that doesn't mean the Rainbows won't come to the party.
"We'll be there," wide receiver Dillan Micus said. "Ready to play. That's what this fall camp was all about. The hard work, starting with the conditioning workouts last spring, was to get us prepared for this season.
"I think pretty much the whole team couldn't wait to leave Barbers Point, but we learned something about ourselves and our teammates. We learned we can survive hard work and overcome adversity. We're ready to hit somebody else for a change and Boston College is up first."