I look at combat photography and it blows my mind some of the photos and film these folks get!! I do not know if it is "nuts" or dedication to the story but hats off!!
With regards to combat photographers, I have to agree with you. They deserve praise, but dang....that's nuts.
I used to always try to get pictures of bears in the wild, but in all our camping trips over the decades, once I stepped out with a camera, the bears just disappeared. Twice in Yellowstone back in 2002, I missed the opportunity of "shooting" a mama Grizzly with their cubs by about 30 minutes. (I decided that it was probably a good thing as I would have likely maybe endangered myself by trying to get closer.)
I did get some good shots of a Grizzly in Alaska in 2005, but in that case, I was inside the tour bus. She was digging for a ground squirrel.