Army nurse Cammermeyer to speak on being gay and in the military Oct. 12

Decorated Army nurse Margarethe Cammermeyer, the highest ranking U.S. military official to be expelled for being gay, will speak at Vanderbilt Thursday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. in 103 Wilson Hall.

Cammermeyer's lecture, entitled "Serving in Silence," is being co-sponsored by Vanderbilt Lambda and Vanderbilt's Project Dialogue, in conjunction with National Coming Out Day Oct. 11. A reception and book signing will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Cammermeyer's 1994 book "Serving in Silence" was the basis for an NBC TV movie starring Glenn Close. It was produced by Close, who won an Emmy for best actress for her portrayal of Cammermeyer, and Barbra Streisand.

Cammermeyer was dismissed as chief nurse from the Washington State National Guard in 1992 after acknowledging she was a lesbian. Last summer, Cammermeyer was reinstated to the National Guard after a federal judge in Seattle ruled that the military's policy on homosexuals at that time was based solely on prejudice and was a clear violation of the Constitution's equal-protection clause.

Cammermeyer's extensive military career began in 1961 as an Army nurse. In 1965 she married fellow soldier Harvey Hawken, whom she met while on a tour of duty in Germany. After 14 months as head nurse in an evacuation hospital in Vietnam, she returned to the United States and moved to Seattle where she gave birth to the first of four sons. A military regulation forbidding women with dependents to serve caused her to leave the Army in 1968. When the regulation was overturned in 1972, she returned to the military, joining the Army Reserves and achieving rank as Colonel in 1987.

Cammermeyer accepted the position of Chief Nurse of the Washington Sate National Guard in 1988. One year later she applied for an upgraded security clearance that would enable her to compete for the position of Chief Nurse of the National Guard. During an interview she responded to a question about homosexuality by saying "I am a lesbian." Eleven months later she was formally discharged after 26 years of dedicated service to the military.

In "Serving in Silence," written by Cammermeyer with Chris Fisher, Cammermeyer shares the story of her public and private life; of her childhood in Norway during the German occupation; her love for the United States; her decision to become a nurse and join the military; her marriage to a man who expected her to be a traditional wife, her 14-month assignment at an evacuation hospital in Vietnam, her return to the U.S. and to a new role as mother of four sons and the struggle and pain she endured during her divorce.

Cammermeyer's nursing and military careers have been marked by numerous awards and honors including a Bronze Star in Vietnam, "Woman of the Year" by the Woman's Army Corps Veterans and the Veterans Administration "Nurse of the Year," selected from more than 34,000 other candidates.