The Orange County League of Women Voters honored women in the military at their luncheon on Veterans Day. The four women veterans on the panel told their stories, which ranged from relatively upbeat to a dark tale of abuse and discrimination. There was no specific response to the report of years of harsh treatment and futile attempts to get help. The contrast between the benign setting (ladies and a few men having lunch) and the bleak tale (which did not have specifics to ground it) was not conducive to discussion.
There was a moment of dark humor at the end, when the moderator, former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, asked about the new VA hospital in Lake Nona, Orlando (my neighborhood). It seems that the architects and planners used a decades-old layout that did not take into account the health care needs of the growing number of women serving in our military. Privacy for women did not exist. A woman veteran was quoted as saying "I won't be getting a pap smear here" after checking out the facilities.
Hey guys! Wake up. This is not your father's military.
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