More Than Just A Horse

While wives of Marines might argue that they are all a bunch of jack a—s, I know of one that definitely was not.  No, no, Reckless was a horse, but she was more than just that.

Let me tell you a little of her amazing story.

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Reckless was born in Korea at the beginning of the Korean War.  She was bred to be a race horse but her destiny lay elsewhere.  Her owner, called Kim Huk Moon, was a stable boy at the Seoul Korea race track.

Reckless was a Mongolian who probably had some Thoroughbred blood running through her veins although her exact lineage is unclear.  She was a chestnut with three white stockings and a white blaze on her face.  As mentioned, Kim Huk Moon intended to train and race her, but his sister lost a leg to a landmine in the brewing Korean conflict and Mr. Moon was faced with raising money to buy her a prosthetic leg.

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In October 1952 Lieutenant Eric Pederson was serving with the United States Marine Corps in Korea as the commanding officer of the Recoilless Rifle Platoon, Anti-Tank Company, 5th Marine Regiment of the First Marine Division.

Anyone who has worked with the old 75mm recoilless rifle knows how much weight is involved.  Each round of ammo fired by those weapons weighed 24 pounds.  While that is not a lot individually, imagine having to carry several of them into combat, then running back and forth for more during the heat of battle.

Lt. Pederson wanted to spare the Marines in his charge as much wear and tear as possible while also freeing them up to do battle.  So he used $250 of his own money to buy the little horse from Kim Huk Moon, which also allowed the stable boy to purchase the needed prosthesis for his sister.

The little filly’s given name was a Korean expression meaning “Morning Sun.”  However, being Korean it was difficult for American tongues to pronounce, so the men named her Reckless, the Marines’ slang expression for recoilless.

It makes sense.

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From the moment she joined the unit, Reckless proved herself equal to the task facing her.  Her primary trainer was Gunnery Sergeant Joseph Latham and main caretaker was Private First Class Monroe Coleman. 

Civilians learn to be Marines in boot camp.  Obviously Reckless couldn’t wear boots so the men said they would put her through “hoof camp.”  They trained the little mare how to avoid getting tangled in barbed wire, how to lie down when under fire, and to run for a bunker upon hearing the cry, “incoming!”

Initially, the horse (at 14 hands [56 inches] tall, she was technically just a pony), was kept in a pasture near wherever the unit was camped, but the mare developed such a rapport with the Marines that she was allowed to roam freely about the camp, and even enter tents if she wanted.  During the extreme cold of the Korean War, Reckless even developed the habit of lying down in Gunny Latham’s tent, next to his stove at night.

Along with complaining about pretty much everything, especially food, Marines are known for eating just about anything put in front of them.  Reckless was no exception, commonly eating a breakfast of bacon and eggs with coffee to wash it all down.  She was known to eat buttered toast, chocolate bars, hard candy, shredded wheat, peanut butter sandwiches and mashed potatoes.  It is said that the unit’s cook made a chocolate pudding that nearly everyone despised.  However Reckless loved it, even though it gave her diarrhea. 

I’ll bet Gunny Latham didn’t like anyone feeding her chocolate pudding before she went to his tent for the night.

She loved Coca-Cola and, as is also typical of Marines, beer.  The jarheads really must have loved and respected the little horse to share their meager beer allotment with her.

No, her tastes were not particularly discriminating.  At least twice she chewed up her own horse blanket, once a hat given to her by a visiting Australian soldier, and another time about $30 worth of Gunny Latham’s poker winnings…not cash…chips.

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Reckless’s baptism under fire came at a place called Hedley’s Crotch.  Although she was burdened with six rounds of recoilless rifle shells she jumped straight up the first time she heard one fired.  PFC Coleman calmed her down and reassured her and she learned quickly, as always.  At the second shot she merely snorted and by the end of the day she basically ignored the blasts.

The little packhorse took her job seriously and enthusiastically.  Any time the unit moved Reckless would be shown her new delivery route once, whereupon she took it to heart, not even requiring a man to lead her.  It is said she made 95% of her hauls totally alone.

Another thing Reckless was good at was stringing telephone wire.  With the reels of wire on her pack saddle she could string as much wire in a day as twelve men. 

She also became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing.

Like all soldiers everywhere, Reckless got involved in her share of shenanigans.  In 1953 a Thoroughbred named Native Dancer was a favorite to win the Triple Crown back in the United States.  There is a photo of Reckless posing with some members of her platoon and a sign challenging Native Dancer to a race.  The proposed race was named the “Paddy Derby,” and the track was called the “Upsan Downs.”  The conditions of the race were that the distance was 1.5 miles over paddies and hills, carrying 192 pounds (8 rounds) of recoilless rifle ammo, and no riders.

Native Dancer did not accept.

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The little horse proved herself deserving of the honor and respect the Marines gave her.  In combat, when one would expect an unsupervised horse to run away from loud noise, commotion, and pain, little Reckless never shirked her duty, hauling up to ten rounds (240 pounds) of ammo repeatedly to the gun line, then hauling wounded Marines back with her, before being reloaded and heading back…all under her own volition.

Perhaps her most significant accomplishment came during the Battle of Panmunjom-Vegas (also known as the Battle of Outpost Vegas or Vegas Hill) from March 26 to 28, 1953.  She made 51 solo trips in a single day, hauling a total of 386 recoilless rounds, carrying four to eight shells on each trip for a total of nearly five tons, up the 45-degree incline, covering over 35 miles that day through enemy fire coming in at an incredible 500 rounds per minute.  The whole Battle of Vegas lasted three days.  She was wounded twice during the battle: once when she was hit by shrapnel over the left eye and another time on her left flank.  The unit medical corpsman, Navy Hospitalman First Class George “Doc” Mitchell struggled to treat her after each injury because the filly seemed to resent the interruption of her work.  After each time the doc patched her up, she anxiously went right back to hauling ammo and wounded Marines.

One of only two Marines to survive Hill Vegas, Harold Wadley of St. Maries, Idaho, recalled, “She made that trip all night long by herself. They would tie a wounded Marine on her and turn her around and she’d 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.”

Other Marines spoke of the encouragement they got from being engaged in pitched battle, dejected and exhausted, only to look up and see the little packhorse struggling through smoke and exploding shells, bringing ammo and helping the wounded on the way back.  During battle the Marines were known to remove their own flak jackets and drape them over the little pack horse.

For her accomplishments during the Battle of Vegas Hill, Reckless was promoted to corporal.  Yes, the mare actually held official rank in the Marine Corps, one of the few examples of an animal holding official rank in any branch of the U.S. military.

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Reckless received numerous decorations for her service, including two purple hearts (with one award star) for her wounds, a Navy Presidential Unit Citation (with one award star), a Navy Unit Commendation, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the French Fourragère, The National Defense Service Medal, The Korean Service Medal (with three bronze service stars), and the United Nations Korea Medal.

She received a battlefield promotion to sergeant in 1954.  After the war, she was brought to the United States where she represented the Marine Corps and the other branches of the military in public appearances and on television.  She was promoted to staff sergeant (E-6) in 1959.

Reckless retired from active service with full military honors at Camp Pendleton, California on November 10, 1960 (the Corp’s 185^th birthday).  She was provided free quarters and feed for the rest of her life in lieu of retirement pay.

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In 1997 LIFE magazine published a list of America’s 100 greatest all-time heroes.  Along with such notables as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, was a little chestnut mare named Reckless.

In 1968, at around 20 years of age, Reckless accidentally tangled in barbed wire.  During sedation so that her injuries could be treated, the brave little horse passed away.

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On 28 July 2016, Staff Sergeant Reckless was awarded the Dickin Medal (a British medal known as the Victoria Cross for Animals) for her service between 1952 and 1953.  In November 2019 she became the first ever recipient of the new American equivalent of the Dickin Medal, the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery.

There is a plaque commemorating Reckless at Camp Pendleton.  Sculptor Jocelyn Russell was commissioned to create a statue of Reckless carrying recoilless rifle shells and other combat equipment.  It was unveiled in Semper Fidelis Memorial Park at the National Museum of the Marine Corps on July 26, 2013, one day before the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.  The statue includes a lock of Reckless’s tail hair in its base.  Since then five additional monuments to Reckless, also by Ms. Russell, have been erected around the country.

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In closing, there is no greater tribute I can give Reckless than to quote one man who served with her.  When asked about her he said, “She was more than just a horse; she was a Marine!”

Semper Fi, Reckless.

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