Thousand-yard stare
The thousand-yard stare or two-thousand-yard stare is a phrase originally coined to describe the limp, unfocused gaze of a battle-weary warrior. The stare/gaze is a characteristic of acute stress reaction, also known as combat stress reaction, which is related to post-traumatic stress disorder.[1]
The despondent stare is a symptom displayed by victims who have succumbed to the shock of trauma by dissociating from it. The phrase originated from military circumstances, but it is a symptom of severe psychological distress that can occur anywhere and is not unique to soldiers or settings of warfare.
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[edit] Etymology
The phrase was popularized when, in 1945, Life magazine published the painting Marines Call It That 2,000 Yard Stare, by World War II artist and correspondent Tom Lea,[2] although the painting was not referred to with that title in the magazine article. The painting was a portrait of a Marine at the Battle of Peleliu in 1944 and is now held by United States Army Center of Military History, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.[3] About the real-life Marine who was his subject, Lea said:
He left the States 31 months ago. He was wounded in his first campaign. He has had tropical diseases. He half-sleeps at night and gouges Japs out of holes all day. Two-thirds of his company has been killed or wounded. He will return to attack this morning. How much can a human being endure?[4]
When recounting his arrival in Vietnam in 1965, then Corporal Joe Houle said he saw no emotion in the eyes of his new squad: "The look in their eyes was like the life was sucked out of them." Later learning that the term for their condition was the 1,000-yard stare, Houle said, "After I lost my first friend, I felt it was best to be detached."[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Marines turn to Greek plays to cope with stress". AP. Aug. 14, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26203463/.
- ^ Life magazine, 6/11/1945, p. 65. link
- ^ Jones, James, and Tom Lea (illustration), (1975). - "Two-Thousand-Yard Stare". - WW II. - (c/o Military History Network). - Grosset and Dunlap. - pp.113,116. - ISBN 0448118963
- ^ ""War through the eyes of artists"" (Transcript of televised broadcast). America's Defense Monitor, Program Number 438. Center for Defense Information. 1991. http://www.cdi.org/adm/Transcripts/438/. Retrieved 2006-10-27.
- ^ Stone, Sgt. Arthur L. (2002-05-02). "Retired Sgt. Maj. Joe Houle recounts Vietnam tour". Marine Corps News. http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/ac95bc775efc34c685256ab50049d458/8162e24d774ce14885256fea006f5222.[dead link]
