08/07/2026
The most decorated horse in the United States military was Sergeant Reckless. She was a small chestnut colored Mongolian mare, standing at only 13.5 hands tall. It is believed she was foaled in 1948, but that has not been confirmed. She was purchased by the US Marine Corps in 1952 at a race track in Seoul during the Korean War. Her owner, a young Korean boy, sold her for money to buy his sister a prosthetic leg. She was renamed Reckless and was trained to carry ammunition for the marines. She bonded deeply with the marines and followed them everywhere. During the Battle of Outpost Vegas, near the end of the war, Reckless made an incredible 51 trips to resupply the marines in one day! On her way back, she carried wounded soldiers. She made each journey alone, under heavy fire. She had been trained to avoid barbed wire and to lay down during heavy shelling. Reckless is the only animal to receive an official rank in the Marine Corps, as a Sergeant. She also received 2 Purple Hearts and many other awards. She birthed 4 foals before her death in 1968. She was buried with full military honors, and memorial statues were dedicated to her memory, in 2013 at the National Museum of Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, and in 2018 at the Kentucky Horse Park, in Lexington Kentucky.
