Thousand-yard stare
The thousand-yard stare or two-thousand-yard stare is a phrase coined to describe the limp, unfocused gaze of a battle-weary soldier, but the symptom it describes may also be found among victims of other types of trauma. A characteristic of post-traumatic stress disorder,[1] the despondent stare reflects dissociation from trauma.
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Origin [edit]
The phrase was popularized after 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 1945 magazine article. The painting, a 1944 portrait of a Marine at the Battle of Peleliu, 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]
In film [edit]
- In the movie Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick, Payback (Kirk Taylor) tells Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) about the thousand-yard stare.
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The thousand-yard stare. A Marine gets it after he's been in the shit for too long. It's like... It's like you're really seeing beyond. I got it. All field Marines got it. And you'll have it too.
- In the movie Rambo by Sylvester Stallone, the character Lewis tells Rambo "You can drop the thousand-yard stare. I've seen it all before, and I'm not impressed."
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Marines turn to Greek plays to cope with stress". AP. Aug. 14, 2008.
- ^ 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 0-448-11896-3
- ^ ""War through the eyes of artists"" (Transcript of televised broadcast). America's Defense Monitor, Program Number 438. Center for Defense Information. 1991. Retrieved 2006-10-27.
- ^ Stone, Sgt. Arthur L. (2002-05-02). "Retired Sgt. Maj. Joe Houle recounts Vietnam tour". Marine Corps News.
