Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story

The film recounts the events in the life of Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer which led to her retirement^[1] from the Washington National Guard under the U.S. military's gay exclusion policy.^[2][3] It begins in 1988, when Cammermeyer, a decorated nurse and officer, meets painter Diane Divelbess and accepts her lesbian identity. After she discloses this during a security clearance interview, the Army starts discharge proceedings. The film shows her legal challenge and the support she receives from family and colleagues under the pre‑"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy.^[4]

In 1989, Army nurse Margarethe Cammermeyer disclosed her homosexuality during a security clearance interview and was discharged under military regulations. She became the highest‑ranking officer removed for sexual orientation. In 1993, President Bill Clinton introduced the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and in 1994 a federal judge in Seattle ordered her reinstatement. Her case and its public attention led to the production of the television film.^[5]

The film was produced in 1995 for NBC by Barbra Streisand in her television producing debut, with Glenn Close, Cis Corman, Neil Meron, and Craig Zadan as executive producers. Alison Cross wrote the script after meeting Cammermeyer and her family in Seattle, and Jeff Bleckner directed. Filming took place in Vancouver, with Cammermeyer visiting the set to advise Close on military detail.^[5]

Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story premiered on NBC on February 6, 1995.^[6]

Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times called the film "tedious" and lacking dramatic tension, while reader Dave Hutchinson, in a letter to the editor, noted Glenn Close’s performance and described Cammermeyer as a role model rather than a stereotype.^[6]

The New York Times critic John J. O'Connor wrote that, despite the limits of the television movie format, Serving in Silence featured strong performances by Glenn Close and Judy Davis. He described Close’s performance as showing "unwavering integrity" and Davis as giving Diane a "hard‑as‑nails vulnerability."^[7]

Jonathan Taylor of Variety described Serving in Silence as an issue‑oriented television movie that, despite strong lead performances by Glenn Close and Judy Davis, was "safe" and "staid" and lacked passion.^[4]

Margarethe Cammermeyer, according to The Seattle Times, earned a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Washington in 1991, serves on Whidbey’s hospital commission, and was inducted into the Washington State Nurses’ Association Hall of Fame in 2014.^[8]

The film is based on Cammermeyer’s memoir Serving in Silence (Viking Books, 1994), co‑written with Chris Fisher. Publishers Weekly described it as "one of the finest military coming‑out books published so far." ISBN 978-0-670-85167-6.^[9]