Sgt. Reckless

in October 1952 marine first lieutenant Eric Peterson purchased a former racehorse a mare called off chim high or morning flame from a stableboy at a racetrack in Seoul Korea for the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars reportedly the stable had needed the money to buy a prosthetic leg for his sister who had stepped on a landmine Peterson had gotten permission to purchase a horse to use as a pack animal to help carry the 22 pound projectiles used by the m20 recoilless rifles of the recoilless rifle platoon of the anti-tank company of the first marine divisions 5th Marine Regiment the chestnut mare asserted to be between three and four years old at the time of her purchase was renamed recoilless after the platoon and as was often done with the name of the rifles the name was eventually changed to reckless reckless was of Mongolian horse stock a sturdy breed thought to be little changed since the time of Genghis Khan although a small breed they are horse not a pony with relatively short but strong legs in Mongolia they are generally kept outside year long as they're resistant to weather they are known for great stamina despite their size have hooves so hard that they are rarely shod are sure-footed in rough terrain and survive well on natural foliage able to consume almost anything all in all the breed is well suited for the role of ammunition carrier buttons sergeant Joseph laughs that was given responsibility to train the horse something called hoof training the trending included horse survival training she was taught how to crawl under barbed wire to lay down if she was caught under fire in the open and to run for her bunker if there was an artillery attack reckless was described as a quick study in camp reckless quickly became beloved by her fellow Marines she was described as a dependable beautiful animal and she was sociable if it was a cold night she was known to sneak into the Marines tents and sleep along side them she became renowned for her appetite and ability to eat almost anything she liked drinking Coca Cola's Willa's beer she enjoyed scrambled eggs in candy especially chocolate she was given a special red and gold silk blanket which she ate she once interrupted a poker game by eating some thirty dollars in poker chips sergeant John T Myers would feed her Apple's of favorite food in the morning she would come to his tent and wake him up by licking his face expecting her Apple the korra was known for making a chocolate pudding that was so terrible that none of the Marines would eat it except of course sergeant reckless although it was said to give her diarrhea the m20 recoilless rifle is a 75 millimeter american weapon that was used in the latter part of the Second World War and throughout the Korean War recoilless rifles eject gas backwards is against fires thus countering the recoil without the need for a heavy recoil mechanism that allows a relatively large gun to be infantry portable the rifle was designed as an anti-tank weapon it's munition had a shaped warhead capable of penetrating a hundred millimeters of armor however in the rough terrain of Korea tank warfare was uncommon and the recoilless rifles were more commonly used as a heavy gun for close infantry support engaging all kinds of targets reckless was a good fit for the company sturdy and reliable she could carry 12 of the large rifle rounds in a single load while she was said to jump the first time she heard a rifle fire she quickly calmed down after her first day in combat she was seen calmly trying to eat a discarded m1 helmet liner as sergeant Myers said of her any animals in the area would take off but that horse would stay calm she would memorize a path after being shown at only a few times thus allowing her to ferry supplies and ammunition alone without a handler in combat she would often carry a wounded marine back on her return trip her most famous battle was the March 26th to 28th 1953 battle for the outpost Vegas the battle was fought just four months before the end of the war as Chinese troops tried to overrun UN positions in order to improve their leverage and ongoing peace talks it was a desperate fight in one of the bloodiest battles of the Korean War recklessness platoon was stationed on a hill opposite outpost Vegas where their fire and their recoilless rifles was vital first to defend and then to retake the position during one single day she made 51 solo trips for ammunition hearing 386 recoilless rifle rounds to her platoon covering a distance of 35 miles in that day in 2013 sergeant Harold Wadley recalled and looked back at the eastern skyline through all the smoke and fleeting flare light and I could hardly believe my eyes the silhouette of a heavily laden horse came in and out of you along the ridge wreckless received two wounds from chap tratan all in the battle while on her flank and went above her eye she is seen here with navy hospital corpsman George doc Mitch who treated her wounds she's wearing an Australian campaign hat which she later ate for her service she was given official military rank and was promoted personally by general Randolph pate commander of the 1st Marine Division and eventually Commandant of the Marine Corps she achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant after the war reckless was returned to the United States with transport provided by the Pacific transport lines aboard the SS Pacific transport she arrived in the US on November 10th 1954 which happened to be the birthday of the Marine Corps she attended the birthday ball in San Francisco where she ate both cake and the flower decorations wreckless was housed at Camp Pendleton California where she produced for fools she retired with full military honors in 1960 and per military records was provided free housing and food in lieu of retirement pay she died in 1968 while reckless was certainly beloved by the men who served with her and quite the hero in the United States thanks to articles in The Saturday Evening Post and an appearance on the art Linkletter show Sergeant reckless also is a symbol of a conflict in which 33,000 American servicemen lost their lives but is still little remembered sometimes called The Forgotten war memorials to Sergeant reckless at the National Museum of the United States Marine Corps in Quantico Virginia and at Camp Pendleton represent the sacrifice of the 1.7 million American veterans of the conflict for her exemplary service to the Marine Corps Staff Sergeant reckless was awarded two Purple Hearts a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal a Presidential Unit Citation with Bronze Star the National Defense Service Medal a Korean Service Medal the United Nations Korea medal a navy unit commendation and a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation all of which would be displayed on her blanket which she sometimes ate if you enjoyed this history guy short then feel free to click that like button subscribe to our Channel and check us out on patreon Twitter Instagram 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Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 246,349

Rating: 4.990972 out of 5

Keywords: history, history guy, us history, military history, sergeant reckless, us marine, horse, the history guy

Id: w3PekI7QzcE

Length: 6min 40sec (400 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 05 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/broken_living]

Good thing the horse wasn’t a diabetic.

[u/Eurycerus]

What an unusual story! Very interesting.

[u/Slick1]

Great channel, just checked out several of his videos

[u/Kurai_Kiba]

Didn’t know captain America served in the Korean war !

[u/Moneybags99]

"...which she then ate"

Never got tired of hearing that

[u/[deleted]]

i see captain rogers and elon musk in this screen cap

[u/Javacorps]

I imagine the Cave Johnson of horses. “The Marines called me reckless because I’d eat anything. I’m not reckless, just innovative. Gave me an honorary blanket, ate that too.”

[u/Christoffre]

Obligatory Tom Scott video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKOcrH_PyU0

^{(Citation Needed is still technically a Tom Scott video})