Reckless - The Racehorse Who Became A Marine Corps Hero

Earlier today, Horse News was privileged to receive information about something rare - ACTUAL Horse News! The information comes to us about a new book from bestselling author Tom Clavin "Reckless: The Racehorse Who Became a Marine Corps Hero". The story is about "America's real war horse who emerged from a five-day battle in Korea with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star."

That's right folks, this is a true story, about a real horse, and a true American hero. "She later retired as a staff sergeant." Lets take a look.

From the Press Release:

Some racehorses, like Seabiscuit and Secretariat, are cemented into the annals of history for their accomplishments on the track. Yet there are other horses whose legendary journey only begins there…

Tom Clavin, the national bestselling co-author of Halsey’s Typhoon and The Heart of Everything That Is, tells the unlikely story of a racehorse who became a true American war horse in RECKLESS: The Racehorse Who Became a Marine Corps Hero (NAL Caliber Hardcover; 978-0-451-46650-1; $28.95; August 5, 2014). From the racetracks of Seoul to the battlegrounds of the Korean War, Reckless was a horse whose strength, tenacity, and relentless spirit made her beloved among the U.S. Marines fighting for their lives on the front lines.

From the cover:

Her Korean name was Ah-Chim-Hai—Flame-of-the-Morning. A four-year-old chestnut-colored Mongolian racehorse with a white blaze down her face and three white stockings, she once amazed the crowds in Seoul with her remarkable speed. But when war shut down the tracks, the star racer was soon sold to an American Marine and trained to carry heavy loads of artillery shells up and down steep hills under a barrage of bullets and bombs. The Marines renamed her Reckless.

Reckless soon proved fearless under fire, boldly marching alone through the fiery gauntlet, exposed to explosions and shrapnel. For months, her drive and determination kept the Marines’ guns blazing, while inspiring them with her singular charm. During one day of battle alone, she made fifty-one trips up and down a crucial hill, covering at least thirty-five miles in the heat of combat. On some of her uphill treks, Reckless shielded human reinforcements, and on the way down she carried wounded Marines. The Chinese, soon discovering the unique bravery of this magnificent animal, made a special effort to kill her. But Reckless never slowed. As months passed and the enemy grew bolder, the men came to appreciate her not just as a horse but as a weapon, and eventually, as a fellow Marine.

A moving reminder of the unbreakable bond between people and animals, RECKLESS is a powerful tale of courage, survival, and even love in the face of overwhelming odds.

Lets see what critics had to say

“Clavin graphically details war on an individual level….The fame of the stalwart horse, who gave added resonance to the idea of Semper Fi, grew both within the Corps and among the folks at home. For military buffs, a blood-soaked war story about a courageous horse.”
—Kirkus Reviews 

“Tom Clavin’s RECKLESS reads like a wonderful and inspiring combination of Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit and Unbroken. The star of this book might be a Mongolian mare, but she was an American war hero, and her amazing story deserves to be told, which Clavin so ably does. This would make a hell of a movie."
—Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Quest 

“Who ever thought such a story could exist? A heroic horse fighting with the Marines in the Korean War? But it emphatically does. It is dramatic and poignant—both the human and the equine parts—and comes completely alive in Tom Clavin's narrative.”
—S.C. Gwynne, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of the Summer Moon

About the author:

TOM CLAVIN is a bestselling author who has also worked as a newspaper and web site editor, magazine writer, TV and radio commentator, and a reporter for The New York Times covering entertainment, sports, and the environment. He has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, and National Newspaper Association, and two of his books have been New York Times best sellers, The Heart of Everything That Is and Halsey’s Typhoon. Other books that have received popular and critical acclaim include The DiMaggios, Last Men Out, and The Last Stand of Fox Company. He lives in Sag Harbor, NY.

DOESNT THAT SOUND COOL?