Books: Horse Marine

RECKLESS, PRIDE OF THE MARINES—Andrew Geer—Dutton ($3.50).

Horses have all but disappeared from the battlefield, but now and then a 20th century warhorse turns up to keep alive the old traditions. Such an animal is Reckless, a beautiful little (eleven hands) sorrel mare who endeared herself to the 1st Marine Division in Korea.

Reckless (née Flame) was the beloved possession of a young Korean jockey until the boy’s sister lost her leg in a land-mine accident; then he decided to sell the horse to the Marines for $250 in order to buy his sister an artificial leg. On the front lines, Reckless became both a mascot and an efficient carrier of ammunition for a recoilless (“Reckless”) rifle platoon, 5th Marines. She learned to relish C-rations and Wheaties, and to drink beer out of a helmet or a glass. She also learned to string communications wire efficiently and to kneel down when enemy fire came close (the marines always covered her with their flak jackets on such occasions). After the war, Major General Randolph Pate, commanding general of the 1st, cited Reckless for bravery and formally promoted her to the rank of sergeant.* Today the seven-year-old mare is living in honored retirement, knee-deep in alfalfa, near Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The book has too much padding in its saddlebags, and Author Geer (The New Breed) is guilty of some sloppy writing, but in spite of these handicaps, Reckless and her comrades in arms gallop through in fine style.

*Reckless is by no means the first horse to be honored for wartime services. Alexander the Great named a city after Bucephalus, his favorite mount. The Roman Emperor Caligula caused Incitatus, his stallion, to be elected a priest and a consul. The skeleton of Robert E. Lee’s horse, Traveler, still stands near Lee’s tomb at Lexington, Va.