Cammermeyer, Margarethe (1942–)

American combat nurse and gay-rights activist. Name variations: Grethe Cammermeyer. Born Mar 1942 in Oslo, Norway; dau. of a renowned neuropathologist and a nurse; immigrated to America, 1951; became US citizen, 1960; University of Maryland, BS, 1963; graduate of Army Student Nurse Program, 1963; University of Washington, MA, 1976, PhD, 1991; m. Harvey Hawken, Aug 14, 1965 (div. 1980); lives with Diane Divelbess (university professor and artist); children: 4 sons.

Chief nurse of the Washington National Guard who, discharged from duty on the grounds that she was a homosexual, determined to change the military's prejudiced policy against gays; served in Vietnam as head nurse of an intensive care ward (1967–68) and was awarded a Bronze Star; continued serving in veteran's hospitals; promoted to colonel, was chief nurse of the Washington State National Guard; having served 3 decades as an army nurse, was discharged for admitting in a security clearance interview that she was a lesbian (1991), the highest-ranking officer ever discharged for homosexuality; took her case to court (1994), and the Pentagon was ordered by a federal judge to reinstate her; reported back to the National Guard (1994), serving as chief nurse of the 164th MASH until May 1996; retired (1997). Named Nurse of the Year by Veterans Administration and Woman of the Year by Women's Veterans Association (1985).

See also autobiography, Serving in Silence (Penguin, 1994); (film) Serving in Silence, starring Judy Davis and Glenn Close (1995); and Women in World History.