LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
PAST Out |
by Rawley Grau |
Who Is Margarethe Cammermeyer?
In the early 1990s, as debate heated up over the ban on gays in the military, a number of personal stories emerged that vividly illustrated the policy's injustice. One of the most compelling was that of a U.S. Army nurse who had served her country for more than 25 years, been decorated for her work in Vietnam, and had risen to the position of chief nurse in herstate's National Guard. The Army had expelled her solely because, when asked about homosexuality during a security-clearance interview, she answered, "I am a lesbian." As a result of that statement, Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer became the highest-ranking officer ever to challenge the ban on gay service membersa surprising role for a woman who, at great personal sacrifice, had devoted her life to the Army. Born in Oslo, Norway, in 1942, Cammermeyer was just 3 when Allied troops liberated her country from Nazi occupation. From that day, she developed a deep love for the United States and an unwavering faith in its military. In 1951, her family immigrated to Washington, D.C., so her father, a medical scientist, could pursue his research. In many ways, the Cammermeyers were a traditional Norwegian family: principled, reserved, and patriarchal. Grethe wanted to become a doctor, but lackluster grades in college and her father's unwillingness to pay for her tuition led her instead to the Army Student Nurse Program. The Army proved to be a good fit for her. Though she had many friends, she wasn't interested in romance or sex; her focus was entirely on her work. Still, she would go on datesit was the expected thing to do. In 1965, for pretty much the same reason, she married a supply officer named Harvey Hawken. When her husband was called to Vietnam, Cammermeyer, too, signed up for war duty. Her work with brain-damaged soldiers from 1967 to 1968some of the bloodiest months of the warearned her the Bronze Star. Soon after returning from Vietnam, Cammermeyer reluctantly left the military in order to start a family; regulations didn't allow women with young children to serve. Her husband also resigned his commission, and the couple settled in Washington state. Cammermeyer continued nursing and, in 1972, when regulations changed, entered the Army Reserves. Her career flourished. By 1979, she was lieutenant colonel and chief nurse of a Reserves hospital; she was also working on a Ph.D. in neuroscience nursing. But all this put a strain on her marriage. In 1980, the couple divorced, with Hawken winning custody of their four sons. The court reasoned that Cammermeyer was too busy building her career to be a good mother. Though devastated, she didn't contest the ruling; she didn't want to drag her children through a rancorous legal battle. Hawken accused her of being a lesbian; he even made the children join him in chanting, "Dyke! Queer!" whenever she brought them back after a visit. But Cammermeyer herself still hadn't explored her feelings for women. In the summer of 1988, however, some lesbian friends introduced her to a woman who seemed to understand her perfectly, and, for the first time in her life, Cammermeyer found herself falling passionately in love. Now a colonel in the Reserves, Cammermeyer was chief nurse of the Washington State National Guard, just one step away from her long-held goal of being a national chief nurse. But to be eligible for that, she would need to upgrade her security clearance. She didn't believe she could be discharged simply for saying she was gay; that was a relatively new policy, implemented only in 1982. So she was completely honest when, on April 28, 1989, an agent from the Defense Investigative Service asked about her sexual orientation. But her response"I am a lesbian"turned her world upside down. The Army can move very slowly. It took two years before a board of inquiry recommended her expulsionin a statement that began: "I truly believe that you are one of the great Americans." Though stressful, this was not an entirely unhappy time for Cammermeyer. Her relationship with her loveran artist and university professordeepened, and eventually all four of her children came to live with her. She also completed her doctorate. The honorable discharge finally came on June 11, 1992. Cammermeyer immediately initiated court proceedings to have it overturned. Finally, in 1994, a district judge ruled that the government's action had been "based solely on prejudice" and was unconstitutional. Because the ruling affected only the old ban, which had been superseded by the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the government didn't appeal, and Cammermeyer returned to uniform. Also that year, Cammermeyer published her autobiography, Serving in Silence; her story received a much wider audience when the book was turned into an award-winning television movie starring Glenn Close and executive-produced by Close and Barbra Streisand. In 1997, Cammermeyer again left the servicethis time on her own volitionand entered politics. The following year, she became the Democratic nominee for a congressional seat, but lost the general election. Today, she continues to fight for the rights of gays in the military. And she still lives in Washington state with the woman she first fell in love with. Rawley Grau has won four Vice Versa Awards for his writing on gay and lesbian culture. He can be reached in care of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth or at GayNestor@aol.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 8, June 29, 2001. |