Reckless and Marine Corps Football Team, 1954. "Being a race horse and having a great turn of speed, she took quickly to American football. In no time at all she was known as one of the great pony backs in Korean service football. She was delighted when her team defeated the Army 23 to 7. It was at this game the General announced she was to be rotated to the States. She was the only Marine to have served a lifetime in Korea."
From the Randolph Pate Collection (COLL/802), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections.
In 1952, Lieutenant Eric Pedersen purchased Reckless from a Korean stableboy to be used to carry ammunition through the mountainous terrain that his platoon was stationed in. The Marines taught her battlefield survival skills, but she was wounded twice in battle. For these wounds, Reckless was awarded two purple hearts.
When the Korean War ended, Reckless was brought to the United States and retired to Camp Pendleton until her death in 1968.
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