Do Soldiers Develop A 6th Sense In War?

After enlisting in the Army in 1968, Eric Dalke volunteered for Long-Range Reconnaissance and served with Company K (Ranger)/75th Infantry in Vietnam. He survived 33 missions behind enemy lines with LRRP and received a Bronze Star with “V” device for

[Thevietnamexperience]

Do soldiers really develop a 6th sense in war? Share what you think below 👇

[thepowerwithin]

I was taking care of a patient that served in Vietnam one day. I crept into his room to try and update the whiteboard without waking him and he sits up in bed with a look in his eyes. That day I learned that not everyone appreciates quiet footsteps early in the morning. He was kind and I learned a few things just from a 15 minute conversation, but the guy was absolutely healthy enough to take down a 200lb nurse aide despite being post op

[truthbtold]

If you live long enough yes. The longer you are in the field yes. You're also left with the fall out of having adapted too well... it's call PTSD.

[EricDaMAJ]

When I served in the National Guard we had a 'Nam vet LRRP that led the commo section. On an exercise we bivouacked on an open field with only ankle high grass. The First Sergeant told me to deliver a message to the LRRP's section. I thought it would be cute to sneak up on the commo section. They were all out of eye sight on the other side of the HMMWV. I could hear them all, including the LRRP, smoking and joking. I got about 20 meters from the vehicle when I hear "Can I help you Specialist?" from _behind_ me. I turned around to find this LRRP just 3 meters behind. He not only knew I was sneaking up on them but he pulled an UNO reverse on me in broad daylight.

[IdrissMannah]

Not just soldiers. As a civilian growing up in a war torn country (Sierra Leone 🇸🇱) you just know when rebels/sobels are about to attack.

[pthhhhht]

I had a friend who was Long Range Recon Patrol in Cambodia and Laos...he told me that once when he was out on patrol he came upon a wasp's nest of a very dangerous spiecies and was afraid to move past it on the footpath...he told me that suddenly, a little man only in pants he described as being the material of a gunny sack, appeared in a small clearing and noticed his fear and saw the source of it...he said the little man gently walked over to a plant, picked off some of the leaves, put it in his mouth, began to chew it and then popped his cheeks with his hands, spitting the chewed leaves onto tthe wasp's nest...after a moment, my friend said he saw the wasps begin to act "drunk" and the little man went over to the nest, moved it back further into the bushes and then hand gestured to my friend that it was safe to pass....when I asked him who he thought he had met that day, he answered, "on that day? I thought I met Jesus Christ!"...one of the best stories I ever heard....

[roguejoe]

I served on a Submarine in the 2010s. When the fans turned off, I would wake up. Right before the fire/flooding/collision alarm would go off.

[SeemsLogical]

I heard the story of this sniper who was tasked as a counter sniper. On the enemy side they had a sniper who was doing a lot of damage and his task was specifically to neutralize the threat from this one enemy sniper. As he and his spotter are surveying the field they notice a flock of birds grouped up on the ground. Why were the birds on the ground? There is a tree right next to them, isn't it safer for the birds to be in the tree? Sure enough that tree was where the enemy sniper was. One bullet and the threat was neutralized. His cover was betrayed by the birds being on the ground.

Thats the type of sixth sense you get in combat, you start seeing things that are "out if place" and look for threats in those areas. Its a sense that, once its developed, is incredibly hard to turn off. And its part of the reason why veterans struggle reintegrating back into civilian life. That sixth sense will nag at them and make them see threats where there are none all because the mail man was 7 minutes late or when they go to sleep and the morning dove that coos at night is silent for once. That sixth sense will save your life and ruin it at the same time.

[tajoe]

My father-in-law Warner Fosberg served with the army's old ironsides 1st battalion 4th division in Vietnam and earned an army commendation for saving his platoon while on point from a VC ambush. Stars and stripes wrote a story about it called pointman. I am very grateful for not only his service but all who served. Thankfully, he came home. God bless all who didn't.

[Americal-vr]

Spot on! When it's quiet in the bush, your definitely NOT alone. That feeling has never left me after 53 yrs. It's like a amanous sensation that never quite goes away. Be with me the rest of my days. To all my 11Bravo brothers ⚔️🇺🇸 past and present peace 🕊️

[czarkaztik]

I was camping 5 miles down a dirt road once and suddenly got a feeling something was in the woods. A hole in the normal nighttime sounds. Acting drunk I stumbled across the campsite opposite the fire into the brush obviously playing with my fly as I went out of the light. I slowly worked my way around the campsite using a hill to block my movement. Once around I could see a guy looking frantically around my campsite because he knew it'd been too long just to take a wiz. I threw a baseball sized rock into the road next to him and he bolted. I watched him run down the dirt road a while then hauled butt throwing all my stuff in the back of my truck and took off down the same road. I don't know what he was doing or how the hell I "felt" him there but my Devil dog 6th sense saved my bacon that night.

[irongoatrocky]

situational awareness is very important in the a life saver!

[myfriendoretheshepherd]

My dad went through flight school for UH-58’s in 1970. He was the last remaining male in his family so he didn’t have to go to war but he did serve in the national guard. His best friend and stick buddy however Thomas Skiles CW-3 was shot down over Cambodia, and they never recovered his body.

[eliasdeleone]

I learned about LRRPS through a documentary and their exploits are legendary!

[marcusmorehead]

My Way older Cousin was with you guys and he came home on R&R and stayed in my room at the house. I tried to slip in and wake him for breakfast as a seven year old in a sneak fashion and he grabbed me up and said you gotta do better son I heard you planning that in the kitchen with you sister!

[craigthescott]

I was a street cop for 33 years in a large southwest city and I can tell you this also happened to me. A sixth sense would develop with senior officers. I could tell when shit was going to hit the fan and full moon nights were the worst.

[josevieira]

Yes, we do. It stays with you all your life. I'm 67, and I spent four tears in the Rhodesian Bush War forty years ago.

[desertweasel]

We used to know this friend's uncle who was a tunnel rat. Uncle Al, we called him. A combat veteran of the Vietnam war. Every 4th of July we would go to their lake house and fish, cook out, swim and at the end let off our fireworks. This time, Al was there and he was asleep in the cabin when we started firing of these fireworks. This event gave him a flashback or something, because he ran out of the cabin in his boxers with a military type rifle, rolled across the ground and started point the rifle at us. He thought he was under attack and we never used fireworks around him again.

[Ryspears]

My dad was in Iraq and told me he got a weird feeling while in his humvee so he told the driver to stop, As soon as he told the driver to stop an IED went off right in-front of his vehicle, Had the driver kept going my dad would have been killed or maimed

[davidwilliamson]

6th sense...situational awareness...instinct. It happens if you survive a bit in the bush.