How One Combat Medic Built A Lifeline For Women Veterans

The most powerful sentence in today’s conversation is also the simplest: “Actually, she’s the veteran.” We sit down with Brooke Jackson Kahn—Army combat medic, neurosurgery PA, and founder of She’s the Veteran—to explore what service, transition, and healing look like when the world still assumes the veteran is a man. Brooke brings clear, lived insight into how women experience PTS differently, why so many never seek help, and how community can change a life when therapy hours end.

We walk through the rough edges of coming home—from culture shock to isolation—and why early VA claims matter for long-term health. Brooke reveals the research gap that pushed her to act and the program model she built on neuroplasticity: activity-based experiences that retrain the brain and reduce stress. Think stand-up comedy led by a retired Army colonel, virtual cooking classes, and monthly meetups that require one crucial boundary: no spouses, no civilians, no kids. That protected space lets women step out of their roles and reconnect with themselves, often realizing how much relief they’ve been postponing.

We also talk scale and impact. With over 80% of eligible women not using VA healthcare and one in five military suicides involving a woman veteran, access must reach beyond traditional systems. She’s the Veteran, now runs chapters in Charleston, Columbia, and San Diego, and has an app that helps women find each other nationwide by location. Recognition from Evan Williams’ American-Made Heroes amplified the mission with grants and national visibility, but growth remains intentional—training leaders, centralizing logistics, and prioritizing programs that truly move the needle on mental health.

If you’re a woman who served—or you love one—this episode offers a map: how to find your tribe again, why celebrating service matters, and where to plug in. Subscribe for more conversations that lift up veteran voices, share this with a woman warrior in your life, and visit shestheveteran.org to donate, join an event, or start a chapter in your city. Your share might be the connection that keeps someone going.

Transcript

Breaking Assumptions About Who Served

Larry Zilliox 0:15

Good morning. I'm your host, Larry Zilliox, Director of Culinary Services, here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run. And this week our guest is Brooke Jackson Kahn. She is prior service army, a combat medic, and the founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization called She's the Veteran. This is an organization that exists only to empower our female veterans and support them. And I gotta tell you, when I heard the name She's the Veteran, I said, I've just got to talk to these people because that's the greatest name for a nonprofit VSO I've heard, because it tells the whole story. You know, even here at the Warrior Retreat, I'll have visiting chefs come in to do dinner for the warrior and their family. And I've got to tell them up front, I've got to say, our invited guest, our wounded warrior, is the woman, because they just automatically assume it's the husband. And we see that across the board. And this uh the name just says it all. So uh Brooke, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me today. Tell us a little bit about your military career, and and I always sort of start this off by by asking, why would you join the army if you could join the air force?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 1:40

Well, I asked myself that a million times while I was embracing luck in active duty army for sure. Um, you know, I come from a big military family where the men uh, you know, they served in the military. My grandfather was World War II, D-Jay, I'm second wave, dad's retired Green Beret, and you know, uncles, cousins, all the guys, they were military well. Um, but the women were nurses. And so for myself, I was actually the first woman to join in my family. Um, but it comes from a long line of people coming before me. And I did start off actually as a combat medic. I was stationed on with 3rd Infantry Division down in Fort Stewart, Georgia, rock of the barn. Um, deployed for a year to Iraq. And after I got done on active duty, I was my reserve component. And then I went to PA school and took my commission, and now I'm uh captain still serving in the reserve.

Larry Zilliox 2:35

What did your family say about you joining the army?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 2:38

Well, you know, uh, I think there was a lot of people who were proud and a little mama that was a little scared. Can't blame her though, right?

From Medic To PA And Reserve Captain

Larry Zilliox 2:47

Yeah. You're done with your active duty commitment and you transition into the reserves and semi-civilian life. What was that like for you?

The Rough Reality Of Transition

Brooke Jackson Kahn 2:59

You know, it's interesting. I hadn't really thought about it until uh maybe two years ago, um, the VA here in South Carolina asked me to be on a sounding board. They were doing like a uh live interview and wanted some women veterans to be representing on there about the civilian transition. And I feel though when I was going through it, I thought, man, I've got this. But in retrospect, when I started thinking about it, I thought to myself, wow, it was it was really rough. You know, I think a big thing for women in particular that men may not have such a a hard transition with is that we get done and we go out into the world, civilian style, whatever. It's very much not a normal path, I guess I hate your word, but cultural bias, right? Is that men serve, women don't, right? That's just baseline of expectation. And that's fine. It's just that when you're transitioning the civilian world, like you almost want to stop telling people that you served because they start treating you very oddly. Like you'll watch women and say, Yeah, you know, third ID, imagery, blah, blah, blah, huh. And they just like their eyes get really wide, and their first response is usually, oh wow, I I could never do that, you know, it's like this backhanded compliment, you know, definitely not a compliment. And then you just see them like skirt off to talk to other people in a few because it's just not something they feel like they can relate to. So the isolation that comes with the transition is not great. I hadn't been back from deployment very long when I got off active duty. So definitely had some problems with, you know, people were complaining that the coffee wasn't Starbucks at a place, or, you know, that the food that was getting served was, you know, the eggs weren't to their liking, whatever. And I'm just like, you know, there are people in foreign countries that don't see their children for a year. Like, what are you complaining about? You're complaining about Starbucks coffee. Like being able to relate after you come off of duty sometimes is a little jarring. I think the biggest problem for myself is I should have kept my mouth shut. Yeah, but you come from that environment. You're just used to saying whatever you think. You're not really used to having a filter, you're used to being the point, and that's also not a thing that really transfers very well to the civilian world.

Larry Zilliox 5:21

Yeah, I I can see that. When did you decide? Well, let me ask you this. Did you make a VA claim for disability?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 5:30

No. Um, especially since I'm still serving in the reserves, I have not made a VA claim.

Larry Zilliox 5:35

Okay. All right. You will though, right?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 5:39

I guess we'll see when we get there.

Larry Zilliox 5:41

Well everybody should.

Brooke Jackson Kahn 5:44

Because well, I I would probably qualify for a whole lot of things. Yeah, exactly. More than likely, yes, but no one knows the future.

Larry Zilliox 5:52

Well here's I I know the future. I do. Whatever you claim now will come to bother you when you're my age. So it when you get older you're gonna need the hearing aids. And you know, I know, right?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 6:10

They're already have bad hearing problems.

Why Filing A VA Claim Matters

The Spark To Start A Nonprofit

Larry Zilliox 6:12

Exactly. So uh it doesn't get better. These things only get worse. So I encourage everybody to make uh a claim and for a couple of reasons, too, for just so our listeners understand. Not only are our veterans entitled to all these services and this treatment and this uh disability rating with financial assistance in some cases, but uh the more uh veterans that register with the VA for service, however minimal that service may be, the more money that the VA can get from Congress to do its job and the more money comes in, the more benefit flows to those that really need it. So you're doing your fellow uh service member a solid when you do register with the VA for service, make a claim and get what you're entitled to. So and as well, I'll just say it again you're g you're when you get older that knee will bother you because you fell off that ladder, or you won't be able to hear anything, and you'll go in for a hearing test, and there'll be no question. They'll just ask you what color you want, you know. So please, yeah. Definitely um think about that. And and remember it does take a while. So So now comes a time you're doing your physician assistant thing, and you you all of a sudden you decide, I don't know, you just wake up one day and go, I need to start a nonprofit. And how did that work?

PTSD In Women: Hidden And Missed

Brooke Jackson Kahn 7:52

So definitely not, because starting a nonprofit is not for the faint of heart, I can assure you that. Um, it was it was a couple of things. Um, for starters, I had done my, you know, they call it different things, thesis, cat stone research project for my last year of PA school. And my research, I was just kind of dumbfounded that there was not a lot of, you know, articles and different research that had been done on military women. And it just seemed as there was like a huge gap on anybody understanding that women behave differently when they're experiencing PTSD. It's very inward. For men, you know, they come back, they're fighting, they're risk-taking, they're doing all the different things that are very outward, they're yelling short-tempered. Women just withdraw and then just kind of disappear. Um, so that was the starting thing that kind of like opened up my eyes to, you know, I'd already seen it on active duty when we came back from Iraq. It seemed like it's kind of like a one size fits all type approach to these women. And then, you know, the men were given space to decompress or, you know, process whatever they'd had. But the women, people basically felt, you know, threw everything on them and said, Hey, you know, you've been gone a whole year. We've been waiting on you to take care of all this stuff. You know, either like go to the grocery store, go to the post office, pay the bills, you know, you gotta move, you gotta do this, you gotta pack all the things, pack the kids lunch, do the homework. And then by the way, you've got to pack your rucksack and still step off at 0400, like you're just doing a regular job. Like there was just no rest reprieve. Um, and there's really no acknowledgement that women had maybe seen the same things as the men had. And then when I moved, I live in Charleston now at the time. You know, I went to PA school and Mobile. And when I moved, I thought, man, I can't wait to meet all my friends. They've got the Air Force, the Navy, the Army, like they really have every branch just about here, right? Um, even the army commands the port, 841st Transpo. Most people don't know that. Like, it's an army commander that runs the port over here. And I just was shocked that there was nothing for us. And then, you know, I had gotten married between the time of, you know, finishing PA school and moving here. And he ain't never served a day in his life. And I was getting pretty tired of everybody being like, Thank you for your service. Thank you for your service. I'm like, yeah, he he hadn't served. Um, but luckily for me, super supportive guy that he is, his response has always been, actually, she's the veteran. And so when I decided to start this, it really just came down to me thinking about, you know, what kind of sums this up in one short phrase, right? And that's kind of how it was born. You know, I personally had taken my commission in the Army Reserves as a PA. I had my dream job in neurosurgery as a civilian PA, and you know, just really felt like my cup was full enough to pour into other people's empty cups. And so the nonprofit began.

Larry Zilliox 10:53

Wow. What was the hardest thing you found about you you've got this nonprofit now? What was the hardest thing that came up that you had to overcome to say, all right, what are we gonna do with it now? How are we gonna help? What what was that process like?

Proving The Need And Educating Communities

Brooke Jackson Kahn 11:13

I think it was probably twofold. I think one of the biggest hurdles I had to begin with for any kind of progress with it was just so many people that are like, they don't need that, they have the VA. They don't need that. There's another group that's already here. Well, there's not. That was a lie. It was like a defense contractors group that has nothing to do with military women at all. Um, but just like the the naysayers of um, you know, nobody's gonna come, nobody wants that, it's not needed. All of the no's that you get. Um, and it's really difficult because people always say to you, you know, you know, 50% of all nonprofits that start fail, you know. It's always all of these things of why you shouldn't that people are very quick to tell you, why bother, why try? And the secondary thing I would say is the education piece. So, like when people think that the VA's got this covered and they're doing everything, I think that the VA does a great job. But what most people don't realize is between 80 to 85 percent of women who could utilize the VA for the healthcare services don't utilize them. You know, they've done their four years, their six years. Well, they've gone to work at Boeing or Bosch and have commercial insurance and they're gonna go to their commercial doctors and stuff. So whatever resources, and as great as the VA is and can be, they're only as good as the people showing up at their door, right? And then we also have the other side of that where, you know, they have 12 weeks of their counseling and whatnot. But what happens to them for a community after they finish their counseling? Well, it's HIPAA. So it's not like a VA sitting there, like, hey, Teresa down the street, just finished her counseling session. You guys should get together. You guys, you know, I know I just met another woman veteran. Like, it's not really like that. So I would say the education piece, and that's still something hard to overcome, is why this is needed, what women experience, which we've been on the front lines for a long time. You know, nobody wants to acknowledge that the whole Army Nursing Corps, World War II, those were the nurses, you know. That's who was taking those care of all those people. You know, people think because of the piece of paper, 2015, 16 Congress says now you can hold these jobs and be on the front lines. What a slap in the face to every woman who served in the front lines prior to that, right?

Larry Zilliox 13:28

Yeah. A woman veteran reaches out to you. What what services can you provide? Are they local to where you're at there in Charleston? Or do you help veterans nationwide? What are the services that you provide?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 13:43

Yeah, so um I designed this program based off of what we call neuroplasticity. It's a fancy word for retraining the brain. So I personally am a neurosurgery PA, and so the brain has always intrigued me of um what we could do for health-wise and benefits. And so it's activity-based. It's learning something new, trying something new. Um, while the vast majority of activities are in person for Charleston, South Carolina, and Midlands Columbia, South Carolina, we just started a chapter in San Diego, California last year. We do virtual events so women all over the country can tune in. Sometimes it's meetings. Different virtual events we've had are like stand-up comedy, it's like retired uh army colonel, woman veteran that actually does that. And we've done virtual cooking lessons. So we try to have a little bit of something different every month and make sure that even if we don't have a chapter every single place that we would like to just yet, um, we do make it a way that they can tune in. We also have an app so they can go to the app or she's a veteran and plug in where they are and find other women that are maybe just down the street. Like we have women all over the country that utilize the app to connect with other women veterans.

Programs Built On Neuroplasticity

Larry Zilliox 14:53

That's great. Listeners, the webpage is she's the veteran.org. I want everybody to go and check it out. Regular listeners know what I'm gonna say while you're there. You want to look for that donate button, it's on the very top, right in the middle. Not not what you're used to. Uh most of our listeners are used to a big red button on the right, but this one is in the middle on the top. You you can't miss it. Go ahead and bang on that donate button. You guys just had a gala. How did that go? Did you raise enough money?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 15:25

Well, we didn't quite hit our goal. Charleston is a very typical lady. Um, she had a winter storm come through. And I don't know if you've ever been to South Carolina, but generally, if it's even forecasted to have a snowflake fall, people are not leaving their house. Like they're terrified. So we didn't have as good of a turnout as we had hoped for. Um, we still had a great time and still did have some wonderful people show up. Um, we actually had people come from all over the country, from San Diego, from Florida, from Virginia, from Georgia, you know, a little bit of everywhere, which was so, so great to see. You know, everybody's really excited to rally behind women veterans and their mental health. And I will say that that is our mission, improving mental health and the female veteran through programmatic activities while building a supportive community. Currently, right now, one out of every five military suicides is now a woman veteran. So, you know, we have four to five women a day that are dying and no one's talking about it. No one's trying to do something about it necessarily, right? That's really where we're trying to fill that gap. Um, let these people know, you know, the ladies know their service counts and they matter, and that's what we're working on.

Virtual Access, Chapters, And The App

Larry Zilliox 16:37

Well, listeners, you need to go to the webpage. It's she's the veteran.org. Make a donation, donate what you can because they need to uh they need some help reaching their goal for sure, because very often these kind of events you just pray for good weather. I know when we have events here, it's uh it it's it's really scary sometimes because you put a lot of work into them, and then all of a sudden, you know, the weather turns on you and and uh it doesn't go as planned. But I know hopefully some of our listeners can help with that. I didn't f I something that jumped out at me too in your background is that you were uh in 2024 an Evan Williams American Made Heroes choice. And for what our listeners uh they may not know, Evan Williams is a whiskey company, and they select veterans to put on the bottle uh on the side. And uh what was that like for you?

Donate And The Gala Setback

Brooke Jackson Kahn 17:41

You know, I mean, it's honestly just been incredible some of the the support, and you know it's it's really interesting because I think people have in the back of their mind that I somehow applied for these things. I I only just applied for a grant. Um, so Evan Williams has grants that they give out for veteran organizations, and it just so happened that after I had applied for the grant, which they did award us, they reached back out and they said, Hey, actually, um, we decided that we would really like to interview you for something else that we do that's a little bit more in depth and feature you. And so that was really cool. Like they put our logo on the side of one of the bottles and had our mission statement on it and the QR code where people could go to our website. And then the secondary thing was they actually sent me some whiskey samples. I got to choose the whiskey I preferred to go in a bottle that was going to have my picture on it. So it was double fold and just, you know, I'm just really grateful for companies like that that are willing to put us out there and give us, you know, another way that we can reach more people. That's really what it comes down to. Like in order for us to help two million women veterans, we got a long ways to go, right? How do you reach them? Well, getting the word out about your organization. So it was it was very cool. I was very honored.

A Stark Suicide Statistic

Larry Zilliox 18:57

I'll uh I'll let you in on a little secret. Our founder, uh retired Air Force Colonel, uh Shirley Dominic, was also featured on the side of the a bottle of the Evan Williams. And as you know, it's a big deal. And uh we were having an event and the representative from uh Evan Williams uh showed up and he had this display and all these bottles of whiskey. And it was at that point that we had to break it to him that uh uh Shirley doesn't drink.

Brooke Jackson Kahn 19:35

Ah they had put they had put her picture on that whiskey bottle and she never touched a drop of it. So that's so fun. Yeah, but you're right. Congratulations to her though. That's that's a really big honor, and I'm sure she was as thrilled as I was to even have that opportunity. So cool.

Larry Zilliox 19:54

Yeah, it was something they had no idea. I guess they just assumed everybody drinks whiskey. Um so talk about what's the one thing that the women veterans that you interact with, what's the thing that they most come to you and need help for?

Recognition On Evan Williams Bottles

Brooke Jackson Kahn 20:15

Well, you know, I think one of the big things, speaking of my topic from PA school, is you know, PTSD is underdiagnosed, under treated, and the female veteran. And one of the things is that they're just so busy taking care of everybody else that they just don't take care of themselves. You know, their caretakers, their wives, their moms, their aunts, their whatever. And so they tend to have all these different roles and put themselves at the bottom. So I would say most of these women, because no one's required to have a diagnosis to participate in our group, our membership is completely free. They just put their email in at the website and join. Most of them don't realize how much they need it. Uh, I decided to be the bad guy on the front end because I knew with my programming and the research I had done that women never really take all the hats off. So, what could I personally do to build those bumpers to make them do that and actually get a mental health break during our programming? And that was to not allow spouses or civilians or children, you know, they're there to take all those hats off and simply plug into the programming and them leaving and saying, wow, I didn't know how much I needed this, probably the number one thing I saw from and continue to see from all of them.

Larry Zilliox 21:27

How many chapters would you like to have?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 21:29

I'd love to be nationwide. Um, you know, I've this has been this is like year seven that we're on. Um the concept really was created like eight, nine years ago, but so far as like getting it going and doing all the right things website-wise and whatnot, you know, but I've gone slow. I've had people beg across the country, you know, we actually have memories even in Canada. We've got some women up there that they found out about my research and have even presented it to their own parliament for increasing medical and mental health resources for women veterans up there. You know, but throughout the country would be huge. It's just been that I refuse to grow too fast and not have a good foundation, you know, and obviously that takes both people who are willing to. Step in, volunteer, do different jobs, plug in, and then find finances being another part. You know, it takes a while. There's a lot of things and grants and stuff like that you don't even qualify for unless you've been around for a few years or your budget is so much per year. So definitely cobbling all the support together in both aspects.

Larry Zilliox 22:33

If somebody wanted to start a chapter, they should just reach out to you and just kind of enter into a discussion about what it takes and what their commitment could be.

The Most Common Ask: Real Rest

Brooke Jackson Kahn 22:42

Yeah, so we do, and that's how we've um done San Diego and Columbia Midlands region, the two chapters outside of Charleston is you know, we have a training program and we have um a director of mental health programming that she takes care of a lot of that to kind of direct them of different programming that we would approve and how to find programming in their area, you know. And we try to make it easy. Like right now, like all of the financial stuff, promoting stuff, the sign-up stuff, all of that stuff is really in-house so that women aren't really concerned about okay, I'm gonna do this, but how much am I biting off? You know, it really is about how can we get this going as if there's a need in a certain place and someone that's willing to step up and lead it.

Larry Zilliox 23:22

Well, hopefully somebody, some of our listeners will will think about it. And at a minimum, listeners, please, if you're a a woman veteran, um, you need to reach out and you know, be part of this organization and their monthly meetups and zooms. Get the help and get the help you may not know you need. So you're not gonna know that until you reach out, number one. You may help somebody else by your involvement too. So think about that. If you know a woman warrior, send the link to them. And while you're at it, hit that donate button. Do you have an event um in June for Women Veterans Day?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 24:07

We do. So that was one of the things I wanted to create when I first started this organization. So June 12th, 1948, a huge historical day for women. It was when it was finally signed into law that we could be recognized as actual members of the military, where we were, you know, able to get all the burial rights and pay and all the different things. Um, so that's a really historic day. And so I wanted to celebrate women. I feel like women veterans do not celebrate their service. They're very dismissive of it. I always joke there's two words you can't say in my organization, which is I only and I just, because that's the first thing that they say is I only served, but I never deployed. I just did seven years. I only, you know, they're very dismissive. And I said that's not allowed in this group. You know, we have to change that internal dialogue to be proud of your service and what you did.

Larry Zilliox 24:56

Yeah.

Growing Chapters The Right Way

Brooke Jackson Kahn 24:57

And so the June event is just usually our largest thing. You know, we have up to 150 women that come out and from all over the country, and it's just really fun. We generally have like a keynote speaker, we had karaoke last year and dancing, and you know, we have like a big cake and lots of giveaways, and it's like nice things like designer purses and spot certificates and just things that maybe they would never be able to get for themselves.

Larry Zilliox 25:24

Is it in Charleston?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 25:25

That's a really good time.

Larry Zilliox 25:26

Is it in Charleston?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 25:27

It is.

Larry Zilliox 25:29

That's the food capital of the United States, right there, folks.

Brooke Jackson Kahn 25:33

Exactly. Most most don't mind coming in for that battle yet, make a weekend of it, bring a few other women veteran battle buddies with them, and it's a really good time.

Women Veterans Day Celebration

Larry Zilliox 25:42

Yeah, it's a good, it's a great place to go to visit. So you might want to plan your visit around June 12th and go to the event and then, you know, spend a few time days in um Charleston. And if you need to reach out to me, I'll give you some names of some pretty nice restaurants to eat in there. June 12th is very special for us here too at the Warrior Retreat. Uh in fact, uh this June coming up, we are hosting, uh, we're partnering with the Moral Injury Support Network for Service Women to host a uh moral injury train the trainer event here um on the 12th Friday. Uh uh the 12th. Listeners, if you're in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, uh, Virginia area and you work with women veterans and you want to learn more about moral injury and its impact on women service members and not only veterans, but uh first responders, female police officers, female firefighters, EMS, and frontline health care. It's sponsored by UVA Health. We'll we'll be uh working with some of their um their emergency room nurses. Uh so it's gonna be a a pretty pretty good event. We hope to be hosting something like that um every June 12th, some sort of event honoring our uh women veterans. Where do you see she's a veteran in say five years?

Brooke Jackson Kahn 27:18

I mean, I hope we're everywhere by then, you know. I think uh women deserve a community and resources and help with their mental health. And I think a five-year plan would probably be right around there. It'd probably take us five years to get most states. But you know, I mean, it's not even about expanding as much as how do we help as many women as we can.

Larry Zilliox 27:38

Right.

Brooke Jackson Kahn 27:39

Yeah, and that's the only reason that I talk about expansion is you know, trying to get the programming in the right places for all of them to be able to participate in. You know, we have several women that tell us that we basically have saved their life and that we've given them hope, and that's a big deal.

Larry Zilliox 27:55

So absolutely.

Brooke Jackson Kahn 27:57

Hope we keep on keeping on.

Charleston As A Destination

Larry Zilliox 27:59

Yeah. Well, listeners, again, the webpage is she's the veteran.org. Please go to it, donate, share the link with other uh veterans, and ask them to share it with all uh their women veteran friends. Well, Brooke, I really can't thank you enough for coming on and and telling us all about the great work that you guys are doing.

Brooke Jackson Kahn 28:22

Well, thank you for the opportunity. It was great talking with you today.

Larry Zilliox 28:25

Well, listeners, we'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. You can find us on all the major podcast platforms. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at podcast at willingwarriors.org. We're on YouTube and Reese Across America Radio. So until then, thanks for listening.