Sweat pouring down her face from exertion and long hours without respite, the soldier moved one arduous step at a time. She'd been on this exhausting journey for five days now: back and forth, back and forth, from the munitions station to the front. By the end of the week, she had carried 386 rounds of ammo (9,000 pounds) to her comrades, sharing the uber-real danger of bullets whizzing over her head. But still she carried on, until the battle was over and her troops were back at their frozen unit. Sgt. Reckless was there for her brothers-in-arms: the Battle of Outpost Vegas was one of the most savage in the "police action" at the 38th Parallel.
The Korean War often is called, The Forgotten War, with good reason. This non-war war began less than five years after the end of World War II--and not many average people supported the war effort.
The soldier in the scenario above, with strong back, keen eye and gentle, loyal heart was named Sgt. Reckless, and she was a horse. A small Mongolian mare, she also could have been named, "Sgt. Fearless," because there was nowhere that her soldiers went, without her. Sometimes, even in the aforementioned five-day battle--she trod her journey alone, but never turned back, never went AWOL.
Had it not been for Robin Hutton, a writer who brought Sgt. Reckless to my attention, I'd not have known about the brave little mare. (Robin is writing a screenplay, BTW, so hopefully the whole world will know of this magnificent steed in the near future.)
But not all war horses are the subject of movies: most, like the Korean War, have gone unnoticed--or at least, unappreciated--by the public, after their human-designated "usefulness" is over.
From the beginning of time, horses have been in the trenches, literally, with their humans. Whether in battle as a knight/soldier/warrior--or as an unwilling potential victim, taking their people on wild-eyed rides through the woods, away from harm's way...
M.E. Altieri
Recent Comments