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the ship’s captain sent an urgent message to headquarters: “Reckless out of rations. We may have to eat her before she eats us.” Thankfully, another boat was able to resupply them with the requisite hay and barley before the situation he feared played out. The rest of the trip went smoothly, but as Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Geer later pointed out, “When she disem- barked there was a noticeable lack of a return invitation from the Navy.”
Later that year, the Korean War finally
came to an end after the combatants agreed to
an armistice. However, because no peace treaty was signed, the conflict was technically never resolved. On the night of the agreement, Reckless’ platoon threw a raucous party. Characteristically, the filly begged for beer. Several hours into the celebration, one soldier saw Reckless reeling around the camp. Evidently, he reckoned, the poor filly had over imbibed.
This incident didn’t stop Reckless from being promoted to sergeant on April 10, 1954, roughly four months after her sixth birthday. As 1,700 soldiers from her division proudly looked on, a sergeant extolled her virtues. “Corporal Reckless,” he declares, “performed the duties of ammunition carrier in a superb manner. Reckless’ attention and devotion to duty make her well-qualified for promotion
to the rank of sergeant. Her absolute depend- ability while on missions under fire contributed materially to the success of many battles.” The ceremony culminated when Major General Randolph M. Pate, pinned a set of sergeant’s stripes to Reckless’ blanket. She would later be recognized with additional awards, includ-
ing two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, and a bronze star Presidential Unit Citation, amongst others.
After Sergeant Reckless’ promotion, her unit began to worry that their beloved pack horse would be left in Korea. Luckily, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Geer solved the problem for them by writing a piece about the mare for the popular Saturday Evening Post. The article made Sergeant Reckless a household name. When Americans learned that the Marines could be forced to abandon the mare, a move- ment emerged to bring her back to the United States. It was successful. A shipping magnate offered to transport her home, and Geer doled out $1,200 of his own money to pay for the mare’s travel expenses. After a sendoff from a military band, Sergeant Reckless was shipped to Japan before boarding a ship bound for San Francisco. Sadly, the second voyage of her life didn’t go much better than her first. After the ship had been at sea for a few days, it ran into a typhoon. During the storm, Sergeant Reckless became ill again. One time, a particularly vio- lent wave slammed into the ship, throwing the seasick mare out of her stall and onto the deck.
USMC Archives from Quantico, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Before Reckless had even arrived, the Marines invited her to a banquet as the guest of honor. On November 10th, the day after
her ship docked in San Francisco, the U.S. Department of Agriculture hurriedly gave her
a blood test before clearing her to enter the country. That same night, she rode in an eleva- tor to attend the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, an annual celebration commemorating the branch’s foundation in 1775. Sergeant Reckless clearly enjoyed the festivities. During the party, she wolfed down some cake before devouring the decorative flowers that lined the room.
Although she never saw action again, Sergeant Reckless enjoyed special treatment for the rest of her life. In 1955, Andrew Geer, the officer whose article had elevated her to celebrity status, published a book called Reckless: Pride of the Marines that detailed her wartime exploits. That year, she also appeared on the popular Art Linkletter Show.
Despite the fame Reckless enjoyed, the Marines were careful to ensure that she wasn’t exploited. After living with Pedersen and his fam- ily for a short time, the mare was relocated to San Diego’s Camp Pendleton. Her legend continued to grow with each passing year. In 1959, the mare
Reckless’ foal PFC Fearless at Camp Pendleton in 1959.
was promoted to staff sergeant by Randolph Pate before being retired with full military honors the following year. Instead of receiving retirement benefits, Staff Sergeant Reckless was compensated with free quarters, and all the food she needed.
While at Camp Pendleton, Reckless also gave birth to four foals, three colts named Dauntless, Fearless and Chesty and an unnamed filly who tragically died about a month after she was born.
During her later years, the mare developed arthritis in her back, a common ailment that was probably caused by the backbreaking loads she had carried in Korea. In a cruel touch of irony, Sergeant Reckless tripped and fell into a barbed wire fence on May 13, 1968. Although she was rushed to the infirmary, the 22-year- old mare passed away later that day. Her loss was mourned across the country. Later that month, Staff Sergeant Reckless was given a funeral with full military honors at Camp Pendleton before being laid to rest.
Sergeant Reckless’ legacy endured even after her death. When New York’s Aqueduct Racetrack opened on November 10, 1989, offi- cials named the first event the “Sgt. Reckless.” In another tribute, Life magazine listed the mare as one of America’s “Top 100 All-Time Heroes” in 1997. More recently, renowned animal sculptor Jocelyn Russell has created
six statues of Reckless, including one at Camp Pendleton. In 2014, screenwriter and author Robin Hutton’s Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse became a New York Times bestseller. Two years later, the United Kingdom honored the mare with the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross (England’s most prestigious award).
Despite all the accolades she received, Sergeant Reckless was perhaps best described by Harold Wadley, a sergeant who served with her in Korea. “The spirit of her loneliness and her loyalty, in spite of the danger, was something else to behold,” he said. “Hurting. Determined. And alone. That’s the image I have imprinted in my head and heart forever.”
Reckless enjoying cake at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball.
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