A Sailors Story
Rick Allen Teichert was born June 5th 1958 and grew up in Webster County. He attended elementary and middle school at Prairie Community School in Callender, and in June of 1976 he graduated from Prairie Valley High School in Gowrie. After graduation Rick
moved to Aurora, Colorado and worked for several years before joining the United States Navy in 1979.
While in the Navy Rick served as a Boiler Technician. A Boiler Technician or boiler tenders as they were called are charged with keeping the ship moving through the monitoring and maintenance of the steam boilers that powered many of the Navy's ships up until the late 80's. Rick served aboard the USS Ranger which was one of four Forrestal-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1950's. The USS Ranger had the distinction of being the first US Carrier built from the beginning as an angled deck ship. It was commissioned in 1957, she served extensively in the Pacific, especially during the Viet Nam War in which the USS Ranger earned 13 battle stars. Near the end of the USS Ranger's career, she also served in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. Many of you may have seen footage of the USS Ranger in the movie Top Gun. In one of the scenes ships Commanding Officer and Operations Officer give the mission brief to the pilots prior to them flying against the Russians.
On 1 November 1983, while the USS Ranger was deployed in the North Arabian Sea, East of Oman. Six crewmen were killed as a result of a fire during a refueling mission. The fire knocked out one of the ship's four engines disabling one of its four shafts. One of the Crewmen that died that fateful day was Webster County's 25 year old Petty Officer 3rd Class Rick Allen Teichert. Petty Officer, 3rd Class Rick Allen Teichert is interred at the Township Cemetery located in Gowrie, Iowa. He is survived by a sister Ms. Karrie Littman of Oak Creek, Colorado and Brothers Michael Teichert of Shoreview, Minnesota and Curtis Teichert of Cambridge, Minnesota.
Let us now take this time to honor Petty Officer 3rd Class Rick Allen Teichert and all of the Men and Women that have lost their lives in the service to this Great Nation during the Cold War as many did not receive the recognition they truly deserved for their sacrifices.
Biography written by Col. Richard Lennon, US Army, Ret.
GIVEN
By Ken B. Harper 02.13.2003
The battle now is over, The sailor breaths his last.
His friends and family gather, As the world just rolls on past.
For God, for cause, for country, This sailor gave his life.
With pride-with honor-with courage, He paid the highest price.
There'll be no call to arms, No putting on of gear.
No waiting for engagemnent, No more the taste of fear.
Six men bear him softly And lay him gently down.
He'll soon be covered over, And lie beneath the ground.
A folded flag for all to see, The price this sailor paid,
That keeps the fight for freedom Alive another day.
Some will say he's crazy To stand and fight and die.
And because they have no courage, They'll run away and hide.
But some are proud and willing To serve and give their all,
In glory they become monuments Or etched names on a wall.
So Taps is played and rifles fired, Loved ones hearts are riven.
Both proud and sad, all do know This Sailor's life was Given.
This poem can be found at the bottom of the U S S Ranger Memorial page