Military Near-Death Experiences: A Guide for Veterans and Families

If you are a veteran, service member, family member, chaplain, or care professional trying to understand a military near-death experience, you are welcome here. Explore personal accounts, research, disclosure, aftereffects, and places to find informed support.

You do not need to settle what an experience means before asking for help. People understand NDEs through different spiritual, religious, psychological, medical, and personal frameworks. This guide offers educational information and my perspective as an experiencer, not diagnosis, treatment, counseling, or crisis care. In the U.S., call or text 988 for immediate crisis support.

Explore this guide: What is a military NDE? · Military context · Finding words · Aftereffects · Frightening experiences · Family support · Chaplains and care professionals · Research and resources

Content updated September 21, 2026. This is not a professional clinical review.

A near-death experience is a set of perceptions some people report around a close brush with death or a serious medical crisis. Reports vary widely from person to person.

Military near-death experiences are not a separate diagnosis and not a distinct medical category. What people describe is broadly similar to what civilians describe.

The military context matters for other reasons: service culture, identity, disclosure fears, chain-of-command dynamics, and reintegration into civilian life. Those factors shape whether a veteran talks about the experience at all, and how they are received when they do.

Military service can add questions about identity, trust, and how a deeply personal story will be received. When I kept my own near-death experience private for about twelve years, fear of being misunderstood was part of that silence. That is my experience, not a description of every veteran’s life.

IANDS shares educational resources about veterans’ NDEs and the need for informed, respectful responses, including work associated with retired Army Colonel Diane Corcoran. These resources address understanding and support; they do not establish what sharing an NDE would mean for any individual’s military career or security clearance.

Explore the IANDS Gap of Care resources

There is no single reason someone waits to share an NDE. Research based on interviews with 50 experiencers explored how people’s reasons for sharing can change over time and how the response they expect from a listener matters. That work was not a study of military career outcomes.

I waited about twelve years because I worried about being doubted or treated like a problem to solve. If you are still finding your words, you deserve patience and kindness. You can choose how much to share and look for someone who listens with care; support does not require telling your story publicly.

Read Regina M. Hoffman’s research on NDE disclosure

Some experiencers describe changes in priorities, relationships, spirituality, or their feelings about death. In a 2022 study, Bruce Greyson followed up with 63 people who had reported NDEs and found that their reported changes in attitudes toward life and death persisted over two decades. This describes that study’s participants, not what every experiencer or veteran will feel.

Your experience does not have to match a list. If changes feel confusing or disruptive, informed peer support can offer understanding, while a qualified medical or mental health professional can help assess health concerns. Physical symptoms, sleep changes, or distress should not automatically be attributed to an NDE.

Read Bruce Greyson’s long-term aftereffects study

A near-death experience can feel frightening, empty, confusing, or emotionally painful. It deserves the same care as one remembered as peaceful. No one needs to call it a gift, force a positive meaning, or feel grateful before they are ready. If fear, intrusive memories, sleep problems, despair, or safety concerns continue, seek help from a qualified medical or mental health professional. In the U.S., call or text 988 for immediate crisis support.

Listen first. A veteran who shares an experience like this may have carried it privately for a long time. You do not need the perfect response. A caring first sentence can be: Thank you for trusting me. I may not understand everything yet, but I want to listen. Meet the story with curiosity before drawing conclusions, ask what they need, and help them find informed peer or professional support when wanted. In the U.S., call or text 988 if there is an immediate crisis.

Listen with humility, warmth, and curiosity. A veteran sharing a near-death experience is trusting you with something deeply personal and may first need to feel heard. Begin by taking the account seriously without rushing to explain it away or treating it as a symptom by default. Screening for genuine clinical concerns is appropriate; so is staying curious about the person's meaning. Clinical language matters, and terms such as delusion or hallucination can feel deeply dismissive when used before careful listening and assessment. Refer to qualified care when distress, trauma, grief, or mental health needs are present, and remain a steady, nonjudgmental presence. This is educational context from a veteran's perspective, not clinical guidance.

I am Chase Skylar DeMayo, a U.S. Air Force veteran. On April 1, 2008, when I was 20 and serving at Langley Air Force Base, I experienced cardiac arrest. What I remember became the near-death experience I share as personal testimony and spiritual interpretation. I kept it private for about twelve years because I did not want to be doubted or treated like a problem to solve. I did not come back with a tidy instruction manual, which would have been convenient; I came back with questions, and I have learned that curiosity can be kinder than certainty. I share this because too many veterans assume they are the only one. This is my experience, not a template, and I do not speak for every veteran. What I can offer is a firsthand account, careful information, and the reassurance that talking about it can be survivable.

Veterans did not start talking about near-death experiences yesterday, and I am not the first person to raise the subject. Retired Army Colonel Diane Corcoran, a nurse and longtime advocate, helped bring attention to veterans who had no informed place to take these experiences. IANDS has gathered accounts, education, research, and community around near-death experiences for decades. Researchers such as Bruce Greyson are well known in the field, and the Greyson NDE Scale is widely referenced in research. Accuracy matters to me. If you notice a correction or know of a source that would strengthen this guide, please reach out; I will review it with care.