As Veteran’s Day is upon us, it is important to remember all our veterans. Sergeant Reckless was named one of America’s 100 Greatest Heroes by Time Magazine in a special 1997 edition. But her story began long before, in a land far away, during a war. Reckless originally belonged to a Korean stable boy. The stable boy’s older sister had lost a leg in a land mine accident and he selflessly sold his horse to pay for her prosthetic leg. In 1952, Lt. Eric Pederson purchased the horse for $250.00 of his own money. Reckless was purchased for the purpose of carrying ammunition to the front lines for the 77mm Recoilless Rifle Platoon of the 5th Marine Regiment. It only took a couple of trips for Reckless to memorize each supply route. She would deliver ammunition, and soon learned to carry back the wounded from the battlefield. Amazingly she somehow located the injured men on her own would and take them to receive medical treatment without any direction from anyone. One day, in March of 1953, Reckless made fifty-one solo trips to resupply the units on the front line, at the Battle of Panmunjom-Vegas (also known as the Battle of Outpost Vegas). Throughout the course of that day, she covered a total distance of more than thirty-five miles and hauled over 9000 pounds of ammunition. That’s not taking into consideration the number of wounded she carried down the mountain to safety. With every trip up the mountain to deliver arms, she’d bring down wounded soldiers. That’s thirty-five miles, up and down mountains, with enemy fire coming in at a rate of five hundred rounds per minute During the three-day Battle of Panmunjom-Vegas, Reckless was wounded twice. Both times, she was hit by shrapnel. One hit was above the eye and the other was on her left flank. Yet, she continued her trips. She even shielded four marines who were attempting to make their way to the front lines. For her valor, Reckless was promoted to Corporal. Following the war, she was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and a Korean Service Medal, a Presidential Unit Citation with bronze star, and other honors. When the Korean War ended, Sergeant Reckless went stateside, to Camp Pendleton. On November 10, 1954, Reckless took her first steps on the soil of the country she had served so well. She was home. Her arrival coincided with the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, which she attended. Always a lady, Reckless rode an elevator, ate some cake and then polished off the flower arrangements. While at Camp Pendleton, Reckless received two promotions, one to sergeant and, in 1959, to staff sergeant. Her promotion to Staff Sergeant included a nineteen-gun salute from General Randolph Pate, who presided over the ceremony. There was also a parade of 1,700 troops, from Reckless’ old outfit. Reckless was retired from full-time military service, with full military honors. She enjoyed a quiet retirement until she passed away in May of 1968. There is a plaque honoring her remains at Camp Pendleton. A statue of Reckless was unveiled in Semper Fidelis Memorial Park at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, on July 26, 2013. That was one day before the 60th anniversary of the Korean War And so, as we observe Veterans Day, let us not forget about the most decorated horse in U.S. military history. Semper Fi, Reckless. Semper Fi.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:14:09 +0000
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