Sitting down with Canton, Ohio’s own Brook Harless, it is easy to see why she was chosen as Ohio’s Mother of the Year in 2019. Meeting to speak about her own road to veteranship and the importance of recognizing and acknowledging female veterans on all days, not only Women Veterans Recognition Day (June 12), Brook’s energy radiated warmth and welcoming, yet also a kick of determination and drive. Proving that women can be both respected as mothers and as soldiers, as leaders and as advocates, Brook’s journey to where she is now as an advocate and Plain Township Trustee has not been an easy one. But, without the challenges she has faced, she wouldn’t be as driven as she is today. She is determined to bring recognition to women veterans every single day. And, she is not alone.
According to a 2021 Pew Research Center report, “Currently, about nine-in-ten veterans (89%) are men, while about one-in-ten (11%) are women, according to the VA’s 2021 population model estimates.” In fact, when one thinks of a veteran, it is usually an older, white male from the WWII or Vietnam generations that comes to mind. Brook hopes to change that in her work as a veteran advocate. She says that many female veterans are overlooked, ignored, and silenced to the point where many female veterans do not speak openly about their veteran status. According to the American Legion, “More than 30,000 women leave the military every year. Women often refer to themselves as ‘I was just’ followed by the military’s job and are less likely to identify with calling themselves a veteran.”
Being treated differently in the military, from different workout conditions to lesser physical expectations on them, women in the military have to constantly prove themselves, and as Brook remembers, “I asked my commanders why I wasn’t being challenged as much as the men. They told me it was because I was a woman, and women don’t do that. I decided I would do that and train as hard as the men, alongside the men, because what they called the Army standard for women was not what my standard was for myself.”
For women veterans, the differences in treatment do not end when their active duty status does. In fact, according to a Baylor University publication, “As the number of women serving in the military continues to grow, the VA has struggled to keep pace with their unique health needs.” From chiropractic care to obstetrics and gynecology, so much is missing from the VA to care for women veterans. Mental health and chronic pain services are notoriously bad within the VA system, especially for women veterans. In fact, Brook has experienced this lack of access to care in her own life. From having to raise her voice to bring Koala Care diaper changing stations to the VA Hospital in Cleveland to fighting to get her medical records updated when the VA had her down as a male with health issues she herself does not experience, the disparities in care from the VA healthcare system due to her gender have been glaring.
Brook recalls a surgery for her wrist where she was put into a threadbare gown – only being provided a thicker gown to go around her like a robe after she spoke up about the conditions of her covering – and made to sit in a waiting room full of people. During that experience, she informed the doctors of her allergies to medicine, and they ignored her and gave her the medicine anyway, causing a reaction she knew would happen but no one took seriously. She says, “A forty minute procedure took more than five hours because they couldn’t wake me up.” After they tried to discharge her in a rush, with men coming in and out of her room unannounced even while she was naked at one point, Brook decided she needed to raise her voice to create change. She raised awareness to her treatment on social media, was contacted by the director of the VA Hospital in Cleveland, which resulted in new trainings for staff of the hospital and new policies put in place to help protect patient rights, privacy, and help equalize treatment for women veterans. While some changes have occurred, it is not enough to support the needs of all women veterans. According to a 2021 USA Today piece, “Despite…women veterans being the fastest-growing group within the veteran community, there are still glaring systemic issues that must be addressed to ensure equitable access to high-quality care for all women veterans. Without proper access to safety measures such as locks on the changing room doors, a choice to see only female physicians, and accessible OB-GYN, women veterans are being pushed out of the VA health care system and choosing to seek care through private insurance or not at all.”
The disparities for women veterans does not stop with the VA healthcare systems. Locally, Brook has noticed a lack of even basic supplies donated for women veterans. Very often, donations are geared toward men. Donation sites often do not have things like menstrual care, skin care or hair care for women, diapers or formula for the babies of women veterans, or even socks and underwear for women veterans. Nationally, this continues to be a problem as well. With the rising amount of women veterans coming out of active duty, this needs to change. As Brook says, “When they are willing to put their lives at risk, why can we not even take care of them and their basic needs?” She believes this leads to the lack of women coming forward as veterans – if no one is going to care about them enough to help them with basic needs and access to support resources, why bother stating their veteran status at all?
Related to that, Brook points out, “Veterans are proud people. We will suffer in silence for as long as we can before we ask for help. So, if someone is saying they need help with pain or trauma or even daily life, you know it’s bad. The fact that no one is there to help them and resources are not always available… this is what helps contribute to veterans dying by suicide.” She wants to see that stigma change – in fact, even suicide awareness pages, like the Stop Soldier Suicide features males only, completely disregarding the increasing number of female veterans who die by suicide every year – a number fairly hard to calculate with many female veterans still hiding their status.
After Brook was medically retired from the Army due to an onslaught of health issues, she says her body gave out but her mind did not. She continues to fight every day for the visibility and awareness of the needs of women veterans. With VA hospitals still not offering something as simple as on-site childcare for their patients (“Even Giant Eagle had that,” she laughs), failing to provide equal access to healthcare resources to their female patients, and the lack of confidence in the system to bring other women veterans out of their solitary hiding places. “We are your sisters for life,” she pleas. “Come out – we will help you. No matter what you need, we have a way to help.” Support can be found at local veterans organizations, such as the SAM (Serving Area Military) Center and the Veterans Service Commission of Summit County, that bring much needed support to all veterans in need, as well as their families.
Women veterans deserve so much more from the country they served than they are currently getting. Feeling insignificant, overlooked, and disappointed in their transitions to civilian life are feelings that none of the women who enlist could ever imagine dealing with. Like many other women, Brook’s path to the military was rooted in the desire to be a part of something bigger. “I wanted to go into the military because they fight for something they believe in. I was a fighter all my life; it was all I knew. The military was the first place I ever went where I truly felt like I belonged,” Brook reminisces. The military gave Brook a place to fuel her fighting spirit, and the work she has done since her retirement has allowed her to continue the fight, not for herself, but for others. She has no problem using her platform as an outspoken advocate for women veterans, but she says, “I don’t want to be the only voice. I want us all to use our voices. It only takes one voice to create ripples of change.” Women veterans may get the month of March and the day of June 12 to be recognized, but their devotion to their country, despite the disparities in their treatment both in and out of active duty, needs to be acknowledged and celebrated every day. For them, it’s more than a month or a day – it’s every single day of their lives – and for us here at VANTAGE Aging, we respect and acknowledge them all year round. Their sacrifices are not forgotten.
Brook Harless is also an advocate for the mission of VANTAGE Aging. Being raised in an impoverished childhood with no sense of security on any level has led Brook to support missions like VANTAGE Aging’s Meals on Wheels of Northeast Ohio, providing food for those face food insecurity. She understands food insecurity more than most, and having her support for our mission, as well as all other missions she advocates for, makes her a valuable community partner. For more information on all of our programs, including our new Hope Givers campaign, please visit https://vantageaging.org/.