"Hawk" shouted, shaking Alex's shoulder. "Snap out of it, soldier!"
While the condition has likely existed as long as warfare itself, the specific phrase was popularized during World War II. It was notably used by Life magazine artist and correspondent Tom Lea in his 1944 painting, "Marines Call It That 2,000 Yard Stare." The painting depicted a Marine at the Battle of Peleliu, his eyes vacant and hollow, encapsulating the exhaustion and detachment of the battle-hardened soldier. nine yard stare
Hawk approached him, concerned. "Hey, Jenkins, you okay, man?" "Hawk" shouted, shaking Alex's shoulder
The term "Nine Yard Stare" is a linguistic corruption, likely conflating the idiom "the whole nine yards" (meaning to go all the way or give maximum effort) with the psychological condition. This terminology is not recognized in clinical psychology or military doctrine. For the remainder of this report, the condition will be referred to by its doctrinal name: The Thousand-Yard Stare. Hawk approached him, concerned