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Sgt. Reckless - One Tough Marine

  

Category:  Pets & Animals

Via:  kavika  •  9 years ago  •  11 comments

Sgt. Reckless - One Tough Marine

Sgt. Reckless

Except for the Marines who keep her memory alive, few today remember the courageous little mare who became a war horse hero.

The is a forgotten hero from The Forgotten Wara little sorrel Mongolian mare whose heroism during heavy combat in Korea was so monumental, the U.S. Marine Corps made her a staff sergeant. Called by the nickname of an antitank weapon with a ferocious back blast, Reckless joined the Marines to carry ammunition to the front lines for the 75 mm Recoilless Rifle Platoon of the 5th Marines. A true war horse, not of stage fame or fiction, she earned her stripes to rival some of historys greatest patriots.

Marines passed stories up and down the line on the ridges. Wed heard the recoilless rifle boys had a horse, for crying out loud! recalls Harold Wadley, of St. Maries, Idaho, a veteran of the 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They trained her to pack the rounds as well as the gun. That gun was 6 feet long and heavy; it took two guys to handle it. They would strap that on one side [of the horse] and strap ammunition on the other side to balance the load, says Wadley, who occasionally caught sight of the 14.1-hand pony-size horse on the battlefield. You talk about baptism of fire! Flooded with stimuli, the one-time racehorse was quickly desensitized to the weapons thunderous roar.

Wadley vividly remembers March 26, 1953, when his infantry unit was holding Outpost Vegas about a mile from the front line. Hed gone to retrieve supplies forgotten by the reinforcement squad when the Chinese launched an assault. The artillery mortars were unspeakable. It was horrific, Wadley says. Taking the wounded to the command post, Wadley noticed something extraordinary. Well, here comes Reckless up that ridge where the recoilless rifle boys had a big foxhole. I couldnt believe it!

One of only two men to leave Hill Vegas alive, Wadley remembers the day like it was yesterday. Generally one Marine led Reckless and she brought up ammo. Some of the gun crew were wounded, so they didnt have an extra Marine. She made that trip all night long by herself. They would tie a wounded Marine on her and turn her around and shed head down that ridge with all this artillery and mortar coming in. The guys down there would unload the wounded off her and tie gun ammo on her and she would turn around right on her own and head right back up.

It was steady nerves, bravery, and a sense of duty beyond imaginationamid artillery barrages exploding at the rate of 500 incoming rounds a minute. I remember in the flare light, looking back and seeing that little Mongolian mare heading up that slope without anybody leading her and going up to that gun pit, Wadley recalls. She knew exactly what her job was. Theres not another horse in war history that could even touch that mare.

Bought for $250 by Lt. Eric Pedersen, commanding officer of the Marines Recoilless Rifle Platoon (of the 5th Marines), from a racetrack in Seoul, Korea, Reckless carried grenades, small-arms ammunition, rations, sleeping bags, and barbed wire; she even strung communications wire in addition to her primary duty of packing ammunition for the recoilless rifle. Trained to step over barbed wire, crouch down in foxholes, and head toward a bunker when incoming rounds hit, the little mare was beloved by the Marines, who took her inside their tents and used their flak jackets to protect her.

During just one day of the vicious Battle of Outpost Vegas, Reckless made more than 50 trips to the gun sites, carrying 386 rounds (more than 9,000 pounds of explosives). In all she trudged more than 35 miles across no mans land, through rice paddies, and up steep 45-degree mountain trails near the front lines. Wounded twice, she never stopped.

Reckless wounds werent serious enough to get her a quick ticket stateside, and she saw more action in the war. Following the signing of the truce in July 1953, as her Marines began shipping home, she was still on active duty stringing communication wire. Government red tape threatened Reckless trip to the States; she would eventually travel from Korea on a freighter as a guest of Pacific Transport Lines, first touching American soil on November 10, 1954, in San Francisco. A weather delay caused her to miss an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (a prime time favorite of the day), but Reckless attended a Marine birthday ball instead, traveling up in an elevator to be the guest of honor and indulge her taste for cake.

After the war, Reckless retired at Camp Pendleton in California and was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant in 1959, an honor never bestowed on an animal before or since. Eight hundred pounds of pure inspiration, Reckless was decorated with two Purple Hearts, a Presidential Unit Citation with a star, a United Nations Service Medal, a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, and other honors. In the 1990s, she was featured in the LIFE magazine collectors edition Celebrating Our Heroes as one of Americas 100 greatest heroes of all time, alongside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Mother Teresa.

My dad always told me stories about Reckless from when he was in Korea, says Debbie McCain, secretary at Stepp Stables at Camp Pendleton. McCain met Reckless as a girl in 1956, when her father, a Marine Corps major, was stationed at the Marine Corps base. As the years passed, I had a chance to meet all her babies [of four, Fearless, Dauntless, and Chesty lived] and grow up with her and see her through her golden years.

She loved to eat anythingpotato chips, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. One time they had to stop a poker game because she ate [the] poker chips. She would drink anything out of a can or cup, from coffee to beer. She would drink out of a canteen, says McCain. It was a habit shed developed in Korea, where Reckless had drunk from Marines helmets and eaten whatever was available, from scrambled eggs to C rations. The Marines would give her whatever they had to eat, McCain says.

Even during retirement, Reckless kept a high profile as mascot of the 1st Marine Division. She went to all their change of commands, retirements, promotional command functions. She went to birthday ball receptions. She went to civilian parades, McCain says.

Throughout the rest of Reckless life, the soldiers love and respect for the horse remained immense. Heres the part that still gets me, says an emotional Wadley. Knowing what that mare had done, the order was that there was never to be any more weight than a blanket put on that mares back againand that order stood. So, when Reckless went on her daily jog at Camp Pendleton, the Marine accompanying her went on foot.

When Reckless died in 1968 she was about 20. She is buried at Camp Pendleton, where theres a monument to her at Stepp Stables. Wadley thinks more is due the little mare with the big heart: America needs a bronze statue of her back there on the Potomac.


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Kavika
Professor Principal
link   seeder  Kavika     9 years ago

Sgt. Reckless, along with Cher Ami, Sgt Stubby live in the hearts and minds of the units that they served, with honor and courage.

To all the animals that have served in, and are still serving, inthe brutal wars in which man engages in, Semper Fi.

 
 
 
1stwarrior
Professor Participates
link   1stwarrior    9 years ago

That is probably one of the most awesome stories of all time. Four-legged and two-legged living as one to be able to survive.

Semper Fi Reckless. You deserve all your honors - and more.

 
 
 
Dowser
Sophomore Quiet
link   Dowser    9 years ago

What a beautiful story, and what a wonderful horse! She was certainly a very special "person". Thanks for this!

 
 
 
LynneA
Freshman Silent
link   LynneA    9 years ago

What an incredible mare, who with unfettered loyaltyserved mankind.Animals and man -an intended connection.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   seeder  Kavika     9 years ago

That she does 1st. Along with the other forgotten animal hero's that serve us everyday. Both military and civilian.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   seeder  Kavika     9 years ago

I felt it was a story well worth posting Dowser.

She was a very special ''person''.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   seeder  Kavika     9 years ago

''Animals and man -an intended connection.''

True words Lynne.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   seeder  Kavika     9 years ago

Where the heck are all the Marines? 1st is the only one to comment.

 
 
 
deepwater don
Freshman Silent
link   deepwater don    9 years ago

K....

Good to see four leggeds getting credit for their service! To many serve and too many aren't acknowledged for their quiet, brave actions. Thanks for sharing.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   seeder  Kavika     9 years ago

They certainly deserve all the credit that they can get dd.

Amazing story with Sgt. Reckless and there are many more. Cher Ami, and Sgt. Stubby are just a few of the many amazing stories of animals as part of military units. Showing amazing courage and saving lives in the process.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
link   seeder  Kavika     9 years ago

I figured that you would know about this Wayfaren. It's Marine history, and a damn impressive part of it as well.

 
 

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