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, despite her distinguished twenty-six-year military career, resulted in her discharge from the U.S. Army. Her dismissal garnered intense media coverage, stirred debate all the way to the presidency, and ignited her activism that continues today. In this revealing autobiography, Cammermeyer writes of her decision to challenge the official policy on homosexuals in the military and of her victory in Federal District Court and beyond. But much more than a book about laws and politics, Serving in Silence is about coming of age, being a mother, and finding one’s center; about the daily horrors of nursing in Vietnam; about “coming out”; and about a brave soldier’s life.

THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE TELEVISION MOVIE, starring Glenn Close as Margarethe Cammermeyer.

This New Edition with added Epilogue includes events from 1994 to the present in 2016, including the life-changing results of ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell and legalized marriage for same-sex couples.

Throughout Col. Cammermeyer’s life, her achievements included completion of a BS in Nursing from the University of Maryland and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington, which honored her with the 2015 “Distinguished Alumni Veterans Award.” Col. Cammermeyer has received many other awards including, among others, The 2016 “Leonard Matlovich Award” from the American Veterans for Equal Rights; induction into the Washington State Nurses Hall of Fame in 2014; The “Legacy Award” from the Point Foundation in 2010; the “Women Who Dared” Award from the National Council of Jewish Women in In 1999; and the “Soldier of Freedom Award” from the Human Rights Campaign in 1993.

Though Dr. Cammermeyer’s twenty-six year career as an Army nurse was interrupted by her discharge, she continued to care for veterans at a VA hospital until her retirement. She lives on Whidbey Island, WA with her spouse Diane Divelbess and continues to speak out on civil rights issues.