A Veteran’s Calling to Serve Beyond the Uniform

For Steve Guziec, ser­vice has nev­er been con­fined to a sin­gle uniform.

A Chap­lain in the U.S. Army, Steve has spent his career sup­port­ing sol­diers through the highs and lows of mil­i­tary life. Over the years, he has served in all three com­po­nents of the Army — Active Duty, the Reserves, and the Illi­nois Nation­al Guard. His assign­ments have tak­en him along­side Spe­cial Oper­a­tions and Com­bat Arms units. Today, he serves with a Field Hos­pi­tal unit, an expe­ri­ence he says ranks among his favorites, sec­ond only to his time with the Army’s bomb squad, the 79^th Explo­sive Ord­nance Dis­pos­al (EOD) Battalion.

“I deployed to the Mid­dle East with one of the finest teams I’ve ever known,” Steve shared. ​“Those sol­diers and lead­ers taught me what ded­i­ca­tion and courage real­ly look like.”

Now, as a behav­ioral health ther­a­pist at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG), Steve con­tin­ues his mis­sion of ser­vice in a new way, help­ing fel­low vet­er­ans adjust to life after the military.

“Mak­ing the Army Bet­ter, One Sol­dier at a Time”

Steve cred­its one of his men­tors, COL Aaron Teller, with shap­ing his approach to both mil­i­tary and civil­ian life. ​“We lived by a sim­ple mot­to — ​‘Mak­ing the Army bet­ter, one Sol­dier at a time.’ That’s a mind­set I’ve car­ried into my work every day, both in and out of uniform.”

That phi­los­o­phy fuels his work with vet­er­ans in the Quin­cy community.

“When I work with vet­er­ans, my goal is to help them become health­i­er, stronger, and more hope­ful so that growth spreads from one vet­er­an to anoth­er,” he said. ​“My ulti­mate goal is that Quin­cy, Illi­nois, becomes known nation­wide as the com­mu­ni­ty where vet­er­ans can build a great life after ser­vice and that QMG con­tin­ues to set the gold stan­dard of care for those who’ve worn the uniform.”

That pur­suit of excel­lence, Steve says, has car­ried him through dark times and intro­duced him to ​“incred­i­ble peo­ple I’ve had the hon­or to walk beside.”

A Call­ing to Help Oth­ers Heal

Steve’s jour­ney to becom­ing a Licensed Clin­i­cal Pro­fes­sion­al Coun­selor was born from a sim­ple desire to help peo­ple. A col­lege course in world reli­gions and an encour­ag­ing pro­fes­sor helped him real­ize that his true call­ing wasn’t in busi­ness or cor­po­rate lead­er­ship, but in walk­ing with oth­ers through their most dif­fi­cult seasons.

“Dr. Rabe once told me, ​‘Steve, you need to use your jour­ney to help oth­ers. The world needs more heal­ers.’ That moment changed every­thing,” Steve said.

Since then, Steve has devot­ed him­self to help­ing peo­ple heal, grow, and redis­cov­er pur­pose, espe­cial­ly vet­er­ans nav­i­gat­ing the tran­si­tion from mil­i­tary to civil­ian life.

A Bond That Tran­scends Generations

For Steve, Vet­er­ans Day is a moment to hon­or the endur­ing bond among those who have served.

“My first Vet­er­ans Day after return­ing home from deploy­ment, I stopped by the Har­ri­son Hy-Vee and stum­bled into their vet­er­ans’ break­fast,” he recalled. ​“I sat down with two Viet­nam vet­er­ans, and we talked like we’d known each oth­er for years.”

That con­ver­sa­tion left a last­ing impres­sion. ​“It remind­ed me that we are part of a broth­er­hood and sis­ter­hood that tran­scends gen­er­a­tions. Vet­er­ans Day, for me, is a moment to remem­ber not only those who’ve signed that blank check for free­dom but also the com­mu­ni­ty here in Quin­cy that con­tin­ues to hon­or it every day.”

He added, ​“It’s not just once a year. Quin­cy shows its love for vet­er­ans in qui­et, pow­er­ful ways all year long, and that love our com­mu­ni­ty reflects is what I think of when it comes to Vet­er­ans Day.”

The Weight and Hon­or of Service

When asked what he wish­es more peo­ple under­stood about vet­er­ans, Steve offered a thought­ful reflection.

“Vet­er­ans don’t come home the same way they left. We car­ry not just mem­o­ries of where we’ve been, but the weight of what it meant to stand in those moments — between chaos and pur­pose, fear and faith. The uni­form may come off, but the echoes of ser­vice, loss, and broth­er­hood and sis­ter­hood linger qui­et­ly in our hearts.”

He con­tin­ued, ​“It’s not always about what we’ve seen; it’s about what we’ve giv­en up to see our oaths through. Some wounds are invis­i­ble. Some lessons can’t be taught in words. And some faith is only forged in fire.”

A Mes­sage to His Fel­low Veterans

Before end­ing his reflec­tion, Steve shared a mes­sage direct­ly for local veterans.

“Please, if you’re a vet­er­an, sign up for your VA ben­e­fits. Quincy’s Vet­er­an Ser­vice Offi­cers are incred­i­ble and tru­ly go above and beyond to help. The local VA clin­ic is filled with com­pas­sion­ate peo­ple who care deeply about your well-being. And remem­ber, the VA offers Com­mu­ni­ty Care, which means you can receive world-class treat­ment right here at QMG with­out hav­ing to dri­ve hours away.”

Most impor­tant­ly, he added, ​“Don’t fall into the trap of say­ing, ​‘It’s not that bad; oth­ers have it worse.’ You signed up to serve, and now it’s this nation’s turn, and this community’s hon­or, to serve you.”

This Vet­er­ans Day, and every day, we hon­or those like Steve who con­tin­ue to serve — on the bat­tle­field, in the com­mu­ni­ty, and in the qui­et moments when they help oth­ers find peace.

For more infor­ma­tion on the QMG Behav­ioral Health team and ser­vices, vis­it quin​cymed​group​.com or call us at 217−222−6550, ext. 3418.