went to see "War Horse", the play

[mrsgreenjeens]

We have season tickets to Broadway Across America, and the play this month was War Horse.  It was Fantastic!  The was those puppeteers did the horses was phenomenal.  You can look them up on You Tube and see lots of videos, even videos where they show the main horse meeting real horses, how they operate them, etc. The entire process is just fascinating.

Anyone else seen the play? 

 

[larussa]

No I have not but I think it would be a real tear jerker. 
 

Reckless -  The real  War Horse                                                 Be sure to view the video clip at the bottom. I'm sure that you, like me, have never heard of this horse before, but the narrator is right - her story should be told. Reckless was a pack horse during the Korean war, and 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 one day alone. On the way up, she carried ammunition, and on the way down she carried wounded soldiers. What was so amazing?  Well, she made virtually every one of those trips without anyone leading her. Imagine a horse carrying a wounded soldier, being smacked on the rump at the top of the hill, and heading back to the safety of the rear. But to imagine the same horse, loaded with ammunition, and trudging back to the battle where artillery is going off, without anyone leading her is unbelievable. How many horses would even make it back to the barn once, let alone return to you in the field one single time? How bad was the battle for Outpost Vegas? Artillery rounds fell at the rate of 500 per hour, and only two men from one company made it out alive. Just two. As for Reckless, well, she was wounded twice in the battle, but she didn't get a trip Stateside like other GI's. She continued to assist Marines: carry ammunition, stringing communication line, whatever was asked of her. She was retired at the Marine Corps Base in Camp Pendleton where General Randolph McPate - the Commandant of the entireMarine Corps - issued the following order... She was never to carry any more weight on her back, except her own blankets. Her Military Decorations included two Purple Hearts, Good Conduct Medal, Presidential Unit Citation with Star, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, all of which she wore proudly on her red and gold blanket. She died in 1968 at the age of 20. In the 1990s, she was featured in the LIFE magazine collector's edition "Celebrating Our Heroes" as one of Americas 100 greatest heroes of all time, alongside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Mother Teresa.                                                       So, here is a clip of her story and photos to prove where she was and what she did.                                                                                CLICK ON THE LINK AND TURN ON THE SOUND                                                                                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIo3ZfA9da0 Now Reckless was a real War Horse, glad she was finally recognized to all of us who would never have heard of her. =

 

[c1atsite]

I heard of both the play and the film but I never knew any details. I assumed it was just a story about a young man's bond with a horse but oh my it sounds deep and good

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

For this story, it actually took place in WWI, however, it may very well have been based on the horse above...Reckless.  The horse in this story belonged to a young man, and was sold to the British Army to help pay the farm's mortgage.  The young man then joined the army (before he was really old enough to legally join) to try to find his horse.  It takes place over four years. 

It was a real tear jerker.  I sniffled all the way thru, even though I knew what happened since we saw the movie first because we wanted a comparison.  But, truly, to see how they made a real life sized "puppet" horse come to life and look so real was just out of this world.  If I could figure out how to imbed a youtube video in here, I would add it, but, alas, I'm an idiot when it comes to that kind of stuff

(even though I have instructions )

 

[kookycats]

Sounds wonderful. Saw the movie War Horse (on Comcast On Demand) and it was just wonderful. Sort of reminded me of a Black BEauty type story.

We just love to see shows. Sometimes go to the dinner theatre in Ft. Myers which is around an hour from here. Wanted to see Fiddler on the Roof but the good seats were all sold out and didn't want to sit way in the back.

 

[larussa]

For this story, it actually took place in WWI, however, it may very well have been based on the horse above...Reckless. 

I don't think Reckless  had anything to do with this movie.  The person or people who wrote the bio on Reckless just wanted us to know there really was a wonderful horse who helped us in the war.  I'm glad they did.