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Sergeant Reckless, a horse who held official rank in the United States military, was a mare of Mongolian horse breeding. Out of a race horse dam, she was purchased in October 1952 for $250 from a Korean stableboy at the Seoul racetrack who needed money to buy an artificial leg for his sister. Reckless was bought by members of the United States Marine Corps and trained to be a pack horse for the Recoilless Rifle Platoon, Anti-Tank Company, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. She quickly became part of the unit and was allowed to roam freely through camp, entering the marines' tents, where she would sleep on cold nights, and was known for her willingness to eat nearly anything, including scrambled eggs, beer, coca-cola and, once, about $30 worth of poker chips. She served in numerous combat actions during the Korean War, carrying supplies and ammunition, and was also used to evacuate wounded. Learning each supply route after only a couple of trips, she often traveled to deliver supplies to the troops on her own, without benefit of a handler. The highlight of her nine-month military career came in late March 1953 during the Battle for Outpost Vegas when, in a single day, she made 51 solo trips to resupply multiple front line units. She was wounded in combat twice, given the battlefield rank of corporal in 1953, and then a battlefield promotion to sergeant in 1954, several months after the war ended. She also became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing, and following the war was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and several other military honors. Her wartime service record was featured in ''The Saturday Evening Post'', and ''LIFE'' magazine recognized her as one of America's 100 all-time heroes. She was retired and brought to the United States after the war, where she made appearances on television and participated in the United States Marine Corps birthday ball. She was officially promoted to staff sergeant in 1959 by the Commandant of the Marine Corps. She gave birth to four foals in America and died in May 1968. A plaque and photo were dedicated in her honor at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton stables and a statue of her was dedicated on July 26, 2013 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. ==Origins== Sergeant Reckless was chestnut colored with a blaze and three white stockings. Her date of birth and parentage are unconfirmed, but she was estimated to be around three or four years old when she was purchased by members of the United States Marine Corps in October 1952. She was sold to the Marines by her owner, a young Korean stableboy called Kim Huk Moon, though that was not his real name. The horse was originally named ' in Korean, which translates to "Morning Flame" or "Flame-of-the-Morning", also reputed to be the name of her dam, a racehorse at the track in Seoul. Moon sold the horse, whom he had nicknamed "Flame," to Lieutenant Eric Pedersen for $250 in order to buy a leg prosthesis for his sister, who had stepped on a land mine. The horse's breeding was thought to be primarily Mongolian though she did have some features, particularly the shape of her head, that were similar to horses of Thoroughbred lineage. She was small, standing only and weighing . ==Military service== In October 1952, Pedersen received permission from Colonel Eustace P. Smoak to purchase a horse for his platoon. Based in mountainous terrain, Pederson needed a pack animal capable of carrying up to nine of the heavy 24-pound shells needed to supply the recoilless rifles used by his unit, the Recoilless Rifle Platoon of the 5th Marine Regiment. The day after he received permission, on October 26, 1952, Pedersen, Sergeant Willard Berry, and Corporal Philip Carter drove a jeep with a trailer to the Seoul racetrack. Pedersen paid for the horse with his own money. Moon was reluctant to sell the horse, though he needed to, and cried when "Flame" departed. The Marines renamed her "Reckless" as a contraction of the name of the Recoilless rifle and a nod to the daredevil attitude associated with those who used the gun. Her primary trainer and the person Reckless was closest to was platoon Gunnery Sergeant Joseph Latham. Private First Class Monroe Coleman was her primary caretaker. In addition to Pedersen, Latham, and Coleman, Lieutenant Bill Riley and Sergeant Elmer Lively were also involved with the training and care of Reckless. Pedersen had his wife ship a pack saddle from their home in California so Reckless could better fulfill her primary role as a pack animal. The recoilless rifle platoon had its own medical corpsman, Navy Hospitalman First Class George "Doc" Mitchell, who provided the majority of medical care for Reckless. The Marines, especially Latham, taught Reckless battlefield survival skills such as how not to become entangled in barbed wire and to lie down when under fire. She learned to run for a bunker upon hearing the cry, "incoming!" The platoon called it her "hoof training" and "hoof camp". The horse was initially kept in a pasture near the encampment. Reckless had a gentle disposition and soon developed such a rapport with the troops that she was allowed to freely roam about the camp and entered tents at will, sometimes sleeping inside with the troops, and even lying down next to Latham's warm tent stove on cold nights. She was fond of a wide variety of foodstuffs, entertaining the platoon by eating scrambled eggs and drinking Coca-Cola and beer. Food could not be left unattended around her. She was known to eat bacon, buttered toast, chocolate bars, hard candy, shredded wheat, peanut butter sandwiches and mashed potatoes. However, Mitchell advised the platoon that she not be given more than two bottles of Coke a day. Her tastes were not confined to foodstuffs; she once ate her horse blanket, and on another occasion ate $30 worth of Latham's winning poker chips. Reckless's baptism under fire came at a place called Hedy's Crotch, near the villages of Changdan and Kwakchan. Though loaded down with six recoilless rifle shells, she initially "went straight up" and all four feet left the ground the first time the recoilless rifle was fired. When she landed she started shaking, but Coleman, her handler, calmed her down. The second time the gun fired she merely snorted, and by the end of the mission that day appeared calm and was seen trying to eat a discarded helmet liner. She even appeared to take an interest in the operation of the weapon. When learning a new delivery route, Reckless would only need someone to lead her a few times. Afterwards she would make the trips on her own. There was a standing order not to ride Reckless, but in early December 1952, someone violated that order and took Reckless on a ride that included a sprint through a minefield. She was not injured during the unauthorized ride. Her most significant accomplishment came during the Battle of Panmunjom-Vegas (also known as the Battle of Outpost Vegas/Vegas Hill) over the period March 26–28, 1953, when she made 51 solo trips in a single day, carrying a total of 386 recoilless rounds (over 9,000 pounds, carrying 4 to 8 24-pound shells on each trip) covering over 35 miles that day. The whole Battle of Vegas lasted 3 days. She was wounded twice during the battle: once when she was hit by shrapnel over the left eye and another time on her left flank. For her accomplishments during the Battle of Vegas Hill, Reckless was promoted to corporal. When not on the front lines, Reckless packed other items for the platoon, and was particularly useful for stringing telephone wire. Carrying reels of wire on her pack that were played out as she walked, she could string as much wire as twelve men on foot. She became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing when the 5th moved from Camp Casey to Inchon, planning to participate in amphibious landings hundreds of miles south of Inchon. The commanding officer of the transport halted loading operations when he saw the platoon on the dock with Reckless. He refused to take her on board his clean ship, which had won an award for being the cleanest ship in the previous two years. However, once the Marines produced the loading plan the ship's commanding officer had approved which specifically listed Reckless and her equipment, she was allowed on board. Once the ship was underway, she became sick, making a mess on the ship's decks during the first part of the voyage. She could not be disembarked due to a storm, but soon became accustomed to the motion of the ship at sea and had no more problems. The 1st Marine Division was moved to a rest area soon after the move, and while there some platoon members posed with Reckless and a sign challenging the Thoroughbred Native Dancer to a race. They called their race the "Paddy Derby" and the field "Upsan Downs." The conditions were: 1.5 miles over paddies and hills, carrying 192 pounds of ammunition, and no riders. The Marines never received a reply. Native Dancer came in second in the Kentucky Derby, but went on to win the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Randolph M. Pate, then the commander of the 1st Marine Division, gave Reckless a battlefield promotion from corporal to sergeant in a formal ceremony, complete with reviewing stand, on April 10, 1954, several months after the war ended. She was also given a red and gold blanket with insignia. Reckless was promoted again, to staff sergeant, on August 31, 1959, at Camp Pendleton, CA. This promotion was also awarded by Pate, who had by then advanced to Commandant of the Marine Corps. Pate personally presided over this promotion ceremony and she was honored with a 19-gun salute with a 1,700-man parade of Marines from her wartime unit. She was an early example of an animal holding official rank in a branch of the United States military. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sergeant Reckless」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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