Teevens, Richard P.

[lrd]

By Direction of the President of the United States The Distinguished Service Cross Is Awarded To Richard P. Teevens
(Posthumously)

Rank and Unit: Sergeant, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces

Date and Place: 17 November 1967, Republic of Vietnam

Citation:

For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Sergeant Teevens distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 17 November 1967 while serving as a member of a Special Forces combat patrol on a mission deep in hostile territory. While moving through dense jungle in an attempt to engage enemy elements and capture a prisoner, his team detected heavy activity to its front. A reconnaissance element moved forward to investigate and reported finding a hostile base camp occupied by a numerically superior Viet Cong force. After requesting air strikes on the enemy camp, his unit was ordered to assault the position and mark it with smoke. As the patrol approached the camp, it was ambushed by insurgents firing the automatic weapons and small arms from well fortified positions. Sergeant Teevens saw a comrade hit and pinned down in the ravaging barrage and dashed across fifty yards of open ground under a hail of fire to rescue the man. With bullets striking all around him and friendly air strikes pounding the camp, he completely disregarded his own safety and remained exposed to the enemy weapons to treat the wounded man. The insurgents concentrated their fire on him, and he was hit by fragments from an exploding grenade while shielding his comrade with his body. Heedless of his wounds and the intensifying barrage, he crawled across the bullet-swept battlefield dragging his helpless comrade to safety. He was mortally wounded while unselfishly placing the safety of a fellow soldier above his own welfare. Sergeant Teevans' extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.