Serving in Silence

In 1989, during a routine interview for top-secret security clearance, U.S Army Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer revealed that she was a lesbian-and began an ordeal that continues to this day. Despite her distinguished twenty-six-year military career, she was discharged from the U.S. Army. Her dismissal has garnered intense media coverage and stirred debate all the way to the presidency. In this revealing autobiography Cammermeyer writes of her decision to challenge the official policy on homosexuals in the military and of her recent victory in Federal District Court. But much more than a book laws and politics, Serving in Silence is about coming of age, being a mother, and finding one's center; about "coming out," the daily horrors of nursing in Vietnam, and a female soldier's brave life.

THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE TELEVISION MOVIE

This eloquent, intimate life story of the distinguished nurse, mother, war hero, and highest-ranking officer to challenge the military's anti-gay policy was the basis for the acclaimed TV movie starring Glenn Close. 16 pages of photos.

In 1989, in a routine interview for top-secret security clearance - a requisite for admission to the Army War College - Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer was asked about her sexual orientation. After pausing for a moment to take a breath, she said, "I am a lesbian." Thus began an ordeal that continues to this day. Intense media coverage of the former colonel's dismissal from the U.S. Army has stirred debate all the way to the presidency. Her Bronze Star for duty in Vietnam, her being named Nurse of the Year by the Veterans Administration, and her role as Chief Nurse of the Washington State National Guard marked a long and distinguished military career. Her goal to become Chief Nurse of the entire National Guard was abruptly ended in 1992 by her discharge based on sexual orientation. With the same calm, assured articulation that won her one leadership position after another, Cammermeyer writes of her decision to challenge official policy on homosexuality and of her recent victory in Federal District Court. But this is not only a book about what she described in Time as "sticking around to get beaten up." It is also about coming of age, being a mother, and finding one's center; about "coming out," the daily horrors of nursing in Vietnam, and a female soldier's life.

Publishers Weekly

Cammermeyer joined the Army in 1961, served in Vietnam with the 164th Evacuation Hospital, married a fellow officer, raised four sons and rose to the rank of colonel and chief nurse in the Washington State National Guard. In 1989, at the age of 47, she answered a routine administrative inquiry by identifying herself as a lesbian. The Army she loved discharged her. This memoir, written with freelancer Fisher, is one of the finest military coming-out books published so far. Since her discharge in 1992, Cammermeyer has devoted herself to what she calls her most important mission: dispelling stereotypical concepts about gays and lesbians by speaking out as the highest-ranking officer to have challenged the Army's anti-gay policy. On June 1, 1994, a federal court in Seattle ruled that policy unconstitutional and ordered her reinstated, a decision now under appeal. Movie rights to Barwood Productions. (Oct.)