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This week's hero, because your kids need heroes, and so do you.
In honor of the soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in support of those fighting the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, we honor a true American patriot, Lt. Margarethe Cammermeyer, the highest ranking, openly gay member of the United States military--and a lesbian mother.
Lt. Cammermeyer joined the military in 1961 as a student nurse. She served in Germany and rose through the ranks. In 1965 she married. She served as head nurse in an army hospital in Vietnam. In 1968 she became pregnant, and the army discharged her under then current regulations. When that regulation changed, she joined the Army reserves in 1972, and eventually reached the rank of Colonel. She and her husband had four sons before divorcing in 1980. By 1987 she was Chief Nurse of the Washington National Guard.
In 1989, during a routine security interviewer, an investigator asked her whether she was homosexual. Unaware of the precise military policy on the issue, she answered honestly that she was a lesbian. This triggered an investigation and eventual administrative discharge in 1992. Rather than accept the discharge, she sued, challenging the ban on gay service members. The court found the ban unconsitutional and reinstated her. In March of 1997, after 31 years of dedicated service to America she retired with full military privileges.
Today Lt. Cammermeyer is retired and lives in Washington with her partner, Diane Divelbess. She remains active on behalf of veterans and against the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Het jointly authored autobiography, Serving in Silence, was made into a film starring Glenn Close.
In the course of her career, Lt. Cammermeyer has been awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service (Vietnam), Nurse of the Year by the Department of Veterans Affairs (1985), and Woman of Power by the National Organization of Women. She was awarded the Honorary Human Rights Award by the American Nurses Association, and in 1995 the Hannah Solomon Award by the Jewish Women's League.
All of us benefit from the service of qualified patriotic soldiers like Lt. Cammermeyer, and all of us suffer when they are not allowed to serve. We thank you for your service to our country, and we salute you, Lt. Margarethe Cammermeyer.
For more info:Lt. Cammermeyer's website, detailed biography
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