Thousand-yard stare

[Timppa]

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 disgust.

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"

The sun bore down unmercifully… Smoke and dust from the barrage limited my vision. The ground seemed to sway back and forth under the concussions. I felt as though I were floating along in the vortex of some unreal thunderstorm. Japanese bullets snapped and cracked and tracers went by me on both sides at waist height…

The farther we went, the worse it got. The noise and concussion pressed in on my ears like a vise… It seemed impossible that any of us would make it across… To be shelled by massed artillery and mortars is absolutely terrifying, but to be shelled in the open is terror compounded beyond the belief of anyone who hasn't experienced it. The attack on Peleliu's airfield was the worst combat experience I had during the entire war.

We moved on and finally halted near an abandoned Japanese machine gun bunker… We ate our rations, checked our weapons, and prepared for a long night… We felt isolated listening to the moisture dripping from the trees and splashing softly into the swamp. It was the darkest night I ever saw. The overcast sky was as black as the dripping mangroves that walled us in. I had the sensation of being in a great black hole and reaching out to touch the sides of the gun pit to orient myself. Slowly the reality of it all formed in my mind: we were expendable!

It was difficult to accept. We come from a nation and a culture that values life and the individual. To find oneself in a situation where your life seems of little value is the ultimate in loneliness.

 

[stona]

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

 

[pbehn]

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.

 

[Mobius]

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.

 

[nuuumannn]

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...

 

[nuuumannn]

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

 

[stug3]

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.

 

[Von Frag]

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.