Quiet Professional: Clem Lemke is a biographical military history documentary about the life of Clemens E Lemke. Lemke is a highly decorated Cold War-era retired sergeant major who served nearly 30 years with the US Army, followed by nearly 20 more years with the CIA. The story is told through interviews with Lemke, his former military colleagues, and his family.
Lemke has received some of the highest awards for US military and government service, including the Distinguished Service Medal. He served in over 20 foreign countries, conducted sensitive intelligence operations behind enemy lines in the Eastern Bloc, and often worked alone. In 2021 he was inducted into Fort Benning’s Army Ranger Hall of Fame.
In 1979 Lemke was selected by the CIA for reconnaissance missions in Iran as part of Operation Eagle Claw, the attempt to rescue the hostages during the Iran hostage crisis. Lemke traveled to Tehran with a false identity and gathered information about the embassy where the hostages were being held. He was in Iran on his second trip into the country when President Jimmy Carter announced that the rescue mission’s aircraft had tragically crashed, rendering Operation Eagle Claw a failure. Lemke and his undercover comrades then had to leave Iran on their own and narrowly avoided being discovered by Iranian immigration authorities on their way out. His telling of his Iran missions serves as the film’s climax.
After Lemke’s retirement from the Army, he embarked on a second career with the CIA. His second career took an interesting turn when there emerged a need to fill an assignment with an older couple posing undercover as traveling abroad in their retirement. His wife Dottie Lemke thus joined his side in a work partnership that went on to last nearly 20 years, through which Dottie remained employed by the CIA as a contractor.
Quiet Professional: Clem Lemke is primarily a talking heads film, with verite footage of participants in their homes and attending the 2021 Ranger Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Fort Benning, Georgia. The film gives a personal window into numerous Cold War-era military history topics, including the Vietnam War, and offers a uniquely intimate insight into Operation Eagle Claw, one of the most notorious failed US military operations of the 20th century.
Donations to Quiet Professional: Clem Lemke will be rewarded with the following perks. The Southern Documentary Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, so all donations of $250 or greater are tax deductible. Tiers include the rewards of the previous tiers as well:
$25: A social media shout out from Alala Productions
$150: Your name in the end credits of the film
$250: A tax credit from the SDF
$500: An associate producer credit
$1000: A co-producer credit
$2500: An executive producer credit
We appreciate any and all donations!
