Sgt Reckless, Korean War Hero

[TheTman]

Sgt. Reckless was a pack horse during the Korean war. She carried recoilless rifles, ammunition and supplies to Marines. Nothing too unusual about that, lots of animals got pressed into doing pack chores in many wars. But this horse did something more. During the battle for a location called Outpost Vegas, this mare made 51 trips up and down the hill; on the way up she carried a total of over 9,000 lbs. of ammunition and on the way down she carried wounded soldiers.

What was so amazing? Well she made every one of those trips through enemy fire and without anyone leading her. And she was wounded twice in the back. Here's a video of her story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=YIo3ZfA9da0

[wyntrout]

Thanks, Tom. That's a great story and she does deserve to be remembered... along with all of the men, women, and other service animals who serve or have served, to protect our great Republic. Too often the contributions of dogs, horses, mules, dolphins and many others, are unheralded.

Wynn:)

[TheTman]

Thanks Wynn, I think the men and women who served in Korea, are/were ignored way too much. The fought as fierce of battles as anyone during WWII, yet they hardly get any recognition. But at least they didn't get spit on and called baby killers when they came home. I got to know a couple of Korean war vets, it was mighty sad, both were drunks, they drank to forget the war, and to forget a society that ignored their contribution for the most part. They had no family for support, and they're both dead now. May they RIP. That's the sad thing about working with alcoholics, the failure rate is pretty high. But at least they had someone to share their troubles with for a while each week.

[muggsy]

Among those who really want to quit drinking the success rate is much higher. My father stayed sober through AA for 45 years. One day at a time.

[TheTman]

I totally believe in AA, has kept my brother sober for over 30 years. I can't drink due to health reasons and joined, and it's really a lot of fun, they have dances and motorcycle rides, dinners on the holidays for those without family. All kinds of neat stuff. I just think the two I tried to work with had seen too much horror and couldn't forget it. They'd sober up for awhile, then have a slip up when things got bad. AA is where I agreed to work with these gentlemen. In the 10 years I've belonged, I've seen a lot of people helped, also seen quite few die. Some folks just can't get it. That bottle of forgetfulness is too damn important. I watched 2 good friends my age die, and nothing I could do would stop them. Alcohol, cunning, powerful, and baffiling. Each had families to live for, but that damn bottle was more important. That's why I get a liittle uptight about drinking sometimes. It doesn't bother me if you have a couple, but I hate when a sloppy drunk comes over and wants to talk.