SGT RECKLESS*

Sergeant Reckless, a small Mongolian-bred mare with a racing background, was purchased by the US Marines at the age of five for $250 from a young Korean boy who needed money to buy his sister an artificial limb, to carry ammunition for the 75mm Recoilless Rifle Platoon during the Korean War.

During the Battle of Outpost Vegas in March 1953 she made fifty one (51) solo trips up to the gun sites and carried more than 9000 pounds of ammunition on her back. She was trained to step over communication cables, get down when there was incoming fire and to ignore the sounds of battle. Wounded twice, she never stopped. She also evacuated wounded and dead soldiers from the battlefield and quickly earned the love and respect of all the Marines who served with her. She was promoted to Staff Sergeant in 1959 and returned to the United States to live out her days at Camp Pendleton.

SGT Reckless died in 1968. She received two Purple Hearts (the highest honour available for animals), has been recognized with bronze statues at both Camp Pendleton (California) and the National Museum of the Marine Corps (Virginia) and has been memorialised at the Kentucky Horse Park thanks to James E. “Ted” Bassett III, a Marine Corps combat veteran of World War II and former president and chairman of the Keeneland Association.

We understand that SGT Reckless was a colourful character in her own right and would hang out around the mess hall and tents when not carrying ammunition or soldiers. Called by some America’s greatest war horse, she has had books written about her, and a song dedicated to her.