Jonn got an e-mail from one of our TAH readers recently, and forwarded it to me.\u00a0 It was the story of “Sgt Reckless” – the equine Marine.<\/p>\n
I guess the reader must have missed the story I wrote and posted at TAH about Sgt Reckless some months back<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 Still, it’s worth repeating.<\/p>\n ———————<\/p>\n Yesterday (author’s note:\u00a0 this article was originally published here at TAH on 27 July 2013)<\/em>, the Commandant of the Marine Corps honored a \u201cMarine\u201d from the \u201cForgotten War\u201d \u2013 Korea.\u00a0 A statue was dedicated in her honor at a park near the National Museum of the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n Yes, you read that correctly – \u201cher\u201d.\u00a0 The statue was of \u201cSgt. Reckless\u201d.\u00a0 She had four feet \u2013 or, more precisely, four hooves.<\/p>\n \u201cSgt. Reckless\u201d was a war horse.\u00a0 Literally.<\/p>\n Though not today particularly well-remembered, pack animals were used by the US military in both World War II and the Korean War.\u00a0 They were at times literally lifesavers.<\/p>\n For the Marines fighting near Outpost Vegas in March 1953, \u201cSgt. Reckless\u201d was indeed a lifesaver.\u00a0 (emphasis added)<\/p>\n When the Chinese first attacked, lighting up the sky with tons of incoming fire, Reckless was frightened. She ran to a bunker, where the Marines found her covered with sweat. But the Marines calmed her and sent her on her mission.<\/p>\n Reckless is credited with making 51 trips in a single day<\/em> from the ammunition point to the recoilless rifles, which were firing continuously as Marines fought to push the Chinese back.<\/p>\n She carried 386 rounds of ammunition totaling more than 9,000 pounds and walked over 35 miles<\/em>. Most of the time she walked alone, knowing the route by instinct. “Her gun crew kept firing,” Wadley said.<\/p>\n Outpost Vegas was retaken after a five-day battle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n