Sergeant Reckless: The US Marine Corps Horse Promoted to Staff Sergeant

She was bought at a racetrack for $250. Eight months later, she was a decorated combat veteran. And in 1959, she stood at attention while 1,700 US Marines marched in her honor. Sergeant Reckless was not a mascot. She was an active-duty Marine - and the Corps treated her like one.

A $250 Mare From a Seoul Racetrack

In October 1952, Lieutenant Eric Pedersen purchased a small Mongolian mare from a Korean stableboy named Kim Huk-moon, who needed the money to buy a prosthetic leg for his sister. The price: $250. Pedersen named her Reckless - a contraction of the 75mm Recoilless Rifle she would carry ammunition for, and a nod to the spirit of the men who fired it.

She was assigned to the Recoilless Rifle Platoon, Anti-Tank Company, 5th Marine Regiment. Her training - dubbed "hoof camp" by the men - involved getting used to the crack of gunfire, the weight of shell crates, and the steep Korean hillsides she would climb day after day.

51 Trips. One Day. Under Fire.

On March 27, 1953, during the Battle for Outpost Vegas, Reckless made 51 solo round trips between the ammunition supply point and the firing sites - covering more than 35 miles of shrapnel-pocked terrain while enemy artillery rained down at over 500 rounds per minute.

She carried 386 rounds of 75mm recoilless rifle ammunition that day, totaling over 9,000 pounds. She worked alone for most of the runs. Marines would load her at the bottom, and she would find her own way to the top, step past the firing teams, turn around, and head back down. Shrapnel hit her twice: once above the left eye, once on the left flank. She kept going.

By the end of the day, her fellow Marines covered her wounds with her own blanket and let her sleep inside their tent.

Two Purple Hearts and a Formal Promotion

Reckless was promoted to Corporal after the battle, then to Sergeant on April 10, 1954. She received two Purple Hearts for her wounds at Outpost Vegas, along with a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, a Presidential Unit Citation, and several Korean War service medals.

On August 31, 1959, Commandant of the Marine Corps General Randolph McCall Pate promoted her to Staff Sergeant (E-6) at Camp Pendleton, California. The ceremony included a 19-gun salute and a parade of 1,700 Marines from her wartime regiment. Two of her sons - named Fearless and Dauntless - attended.

She was not promoted symbolically. She was entered in the official rolls of the United States Marine Corps with her own service record and her own rations allocation.

Retirement and Legacy

Sergeant Reckless retired from active duty on November 10, 1960. She spent her remaining years at Camp Pendleton, known to eat scrambled eggs for breakfast and accept candy bars from passing Marines. She died on May 13, 1968, and was buried with full military honors.

In 2016, she was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal - the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross - by the United Kingdom. A life-size bronze statue stands at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia. Staff Sergeant Reckless remains the only animal to hold an officially documented enlisted rank in the United States Marine Corps.