A battlefield syndrome in which a soldier may become lost in thought due to stress from the fight. The 1000 Yard Stare is named such because the soldier may seem to be focusing on an object very far away, and may even become unresponsive to external stimuli. The phrase was coined during the Vietnam war.
The 1000 Yard Stare, or the 2000 Yard Stare, was a symptom of battlefield stress and exhaustion. It became named so during World War II, because the victim would become unresponsive and stare "a thousand yards off".
After theinvasion of Peleiu, many Marines would fall victim to the 1000 Yard Stare after numerous days of endless combat.