PORT ANGELES — For U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer and Air Force Col. John Teichert, the National Prayer Breakfast was about faith, unity and a mutual respect among longtime friends.
Teichert, commander of the 11th Wing and Joint Base Andrews, Md., attended Port Angeles High School with Kilmer in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
He was Kilmer’s guest for the Thursday breakfast in Washington, D.C.
“It was wonderful,” Teichert said in a telephone interview.
“It was great catching up with Representative Kilmer. It’s awesome that we’re both here in the D.C. area serving our country in different ways.”
Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, represents the 6th Congressional District, which covers the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, Grays Harbor County and most of Tacoma.
“John has been a friend for a long time,” Kilmer said in the same interview.
“He was a couple years ahead of me at Port Angeles High School. We played tennis together — him far better than me — and we did a lot of stuff in school together.”
Now in its 66th year, the National Prayer Breakfast is a faith gathering of several thousand dignitaries. It is organized by the Fellowship Foundation, a Christian group that wants to focus on a shared admiration of Jesus.
Every president since the Dwight D. Eisenhower has attended the annual breakfast, The Washington Post reported.
It began as a gathering among Seattle business leaders in the 1950s, Teichert said.
Teichert said the breakfast was a “great opportunity” for government, military and business leaders and representatives of foreign governments to “come together and humbly ask God for his blessing upon our nation.”
The keynote speakers for this year’s breakfast were U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the House majority whip who was shot in the hip last June while practicing for a charity baseball game, and his friend and fellow Congressman Cedric Richmond, D-La., Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“Congressman Scalise talked about his experience and how his faith helped him though a pretty trying time,” Kilmer said.
A common theme expressed by all speakers was the need to come together, regardless of party affiliation, to share faith and fellowship, Kilmer said.
“I think the National Prayer Breakfast is a pretty special morning,” said Kilmer, a 1992 Port Angeles High School graduate.
President Donald Trump addressed those present, saying, “America is a nation of believers, and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer,” the Washington Post reported.
Trump also said: “We can all be heroes to everybody, and they can be heroes to us. As long as we open our hearts to God’s grace, America will be free, the land of the free, the home of the brave and the light to all nations.”
He made no policy announcements, the Post said, but focused on the inspiring stories of people who have gone through struggle but held onto hope and faith.
The breakfast was attended by representatives of 140 countries.
Sharing a table with Kilmer and Teichert were dignitaries from Latvia, Israel and Vietnam, a Maryland congressman and “his buddy from Pittsburgh,” Kilmer said.
“It was neat to see that sort of coming together,” Kilmer said.
Teichert graduated from Port Angeles High School in 1990. He earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Stanford.
He was stationed in the United Kingdom when Kilmer was earning a doctoral degree in public policy from the University of Oxford.
“We’ve periodically stayed in touch,” Kilmer said.
The former high school knowledge bowl teammates were reunited when Teichert transferred to the Washington, D.C.-area.
The 11th Wing is the host unit for Joint Base Andrews, which sits on the edge of the Capital Beltway.
It provides security, personnel, contracting, finance, medical and infrastructure support for five Air Force wings, three headquarters, more than 80 tenant organizations and 60,000 airmen an their families, according to Teichert’s biography.
Teichert has logged more than 2,000 hours in 36 aircraft, including the F-22, F-15E, F-16 and UH-1N.
His home room teacher in the seventh grade was J.C. Kilmer, Derek’s father.
“I was friends off and on with Derek’s brothers as well,” Teichert recalled.
Teichert said his family background helped shape his desire to serve others.
Kilmer said he met Teichert’s father at a recent Port Angeles Rotary Club meeting.
“I feel very lucky having grown up in Port Angeles,” Kilmer said.
“It was, and remains, a community that really cares about its young people and invests in its young people.”
“For me, it helped shape an ethic of wanting to give back,” Kilmer added.
“I think that ethic has shown through John and his work in the Air Force.”
Kilmer was elect to Congress in 2012.
Teichert described his former tennis partner as “universally liked.”
“He’s just a downright nice guy, a guy who spends time building relationships and somebody who finds common ground with everybody he meets,” Teichert said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
