"The second fear is the 'battlefield fear.' This is the concrete, clear and present fear in face of a life-threatening situation. To get shot, to get maimed by a grenade or to step on a mine. Every soldier has a different method to manage this fear. I used to lie to muyself that the situation was much better than it looked, that the enemy wasn't that close, the shots were not aimed at me and the sound behind the bush was an animal and not an enemy soldier. My auto-suggestion method worked out fine for me. I also invented 'mantras' to calm myself down. One of them went like: "Today is a good day to die. But not for me. Not today!" Of course, endlessly repeating that you are not dying today, won't increase your chances to survive, but you can fool yourself into believing that it does. It worked and I calmed down. Other soldiers were using other methods, a lot of them were praying, others sang songs and some soldiers overcame their fear through shouting out loud or cursing. I lied to myself or repeated my mantras. Whatever works for you is fine. The third type of fear, however, is the worst. It's not only related to combat, but all of us will experience it one day. It's the fear of imminent death. That you won't be there anymore. In combat, this happens when you are in a really hopeless situation. This fear is the worst feeling I have ever experienced, almost like if somebody pushes you from a cliff and you have inly seconds to live. You feel completely alone. In the end, there is nothing you can do to overcome this fear. While other fears can be managed, you cannot train or prepare for your last moment on earth."