25 May 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Rick Souter served in the military for more than 30 years. During that time, he looked for ways to help his fellow soldiers physically and emotionally through Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and everything in between.
Souter began his military career in the Air Force as a medical service specialist.
“We were taking care of the fliers, the airman, their families and civilians that we had that were authorized to be taken care of by us,” Souter said.
From there, he joined the Kansas Army National Guard as a chaplain in 1999. He was deployed around the globe, serving in Kuwait, Iraq, Panama, Germany and beyond.
“We go where the soldiers are. We sleep where the soldiers sleep. We do what the soldiers do,” Souter said. “If your unit is assigned to spend the night in the mud hole, Chaplain, spend the night in the mud hole.”
Being there for fellow soldiers to help with physical or spiritual healing is something that really resonated with Souter.
“The impact that chaplains make, medics make, sometimes are not apparent,” Souter said. “If you set an arm, yeah, that’s apparent. If you sew somebody up, that’s apparent, or if you do a baptism or something like that. But the fact that we’re able to touch lives that make a difference not just now, but tomorrow and the next day, and sometimes to families they don’t even have at that time.”
While holding those roles was challenging at times, Souter said never lost sight of why he was there.
“I didn’t join the military to win medals and earn awards and accolades,” Souter said. “I joined to serve my country. Being a chaplain was the best job in the military because I was to take care of people. I was there at the good times, the bad times. I like to think, at times, I helped their lives get better, or be better.”
These days, Souter is still involved with his faith. He serves as a pastor at the Grantville United Methodist Church where he’s finishing up his ninth year.