# Thousand-yard stare



## Timppa (Dec 6, 2014)

Not related only to WW2.

Definition:
The thousand-yard stare or two-thousand-yard stare is a phrase coined to describe the limp, blank, unfocused gaze of a battle-weary soldier. A characteristic of shell shock, the despondent stare reflects dissociation from trauma.



From Eugene Sledge's "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.":


> I caught a fleeting glimpse of some Marines leaving a smoking amtrac on the reef. Some fell as bullets and fragments splashed among them… I turned my face away and wished that I were imagining it all. I had tasted the bitterest essence of war, the sight of helpless comrades being slaughtered, and it filled me with .
> 
> We moved rapidly in the open, amid craters and coral rubble, through ever increasing enemy fire… I clenched my teeth, squeezed my carbine stock, recited over and over to myself, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me”
> 
> ...

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## stona (Dec 6, 2014)

The US Marine, taken during the battle for Hue in 1968, fourth image, third row, is one of the great British photographer Don McCullin's best known images. He talked about it in the documentary film 'McCullin' made about him and his career. 
Highly recommended viewing, available on Netflix.
Cheers
Steve


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## pbehn (Dec 6, 2014)

It shocked me seeing the 9-11 footage from the twin towers, some of the firefighters had that look, as if they had aged 20 years in a day.


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## Mobius (Dec 7, 2014)

Hey! that first picture of 2nd Div. Marine is my uncle Bill. He was just tired after returning to the ship from being on the island battle for a number of days.

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## nuuumannn (Dec 10, 2014)

That's what I looked like after my first year as a father; the combination of lack of sleep and having to study for work just turned me into a zombie...

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## nuuumannn (Dec 20, 2014)

A DISLIKE?! Man, some people have no sense of humour...


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## stug3 (Dec 22, 2014)

Tom Lea's famous 1944 portrait from Peleliu,
_Marines Call It That 2,000 Yard Stare_, first published in a 1945 issue of _LIFE_ magazine.


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## Von Frag (Dec 25, 2014)

Yeh Stug, thats the painting that pretty much sums it up. I had Tom Lea's Fighter Pilot as my background for a long time.

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