Valérie André (; born 21 April 1922) is a veteran of the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, a

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

, an

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

and the first female member of the military to achieve the rank of

General Officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

, in 1976, as Physician General. In 1981, she was promoted to Inspector General of Medicine. A

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

pilot, she is the first woman to have piloted a helicopter in a combat zone. She is also a founding member of the

Académie de l'air et de l'espace The Académie de l'air et de l'espace (AAE) is the French national Air and Space Academy. Established in 1983 in Toulouse on the initiative of André Turcat, the aims of the academy are the following: "To encourage the development of high quality ...

. As a member of the military, she is not addressed as "Madame la Générale" (a term reserved for spouses of generals) but as "General". She started as a Medical Captain in Indochina in 1948, already a qualified parachutist and pilot, in addition to being an army surgeon. While in Indochina, she realized that the most difficult part of her duties was retrieving the wounded, who were often trapped in the jungle. She returned to France to learn how to pilot a helicopter, then flew one to Indochina. From 1952–1953, she piloted 129 helicopter missions into the jungle, rescuing 165 soldiers, and on two occasions completed parachute jumps to treat wounded soldiers who needed immediate surgery. One typical mission occurred on 11 December 1951, when casualties were in urgent need of evacuation from Tu Vu on the Black River. The only available helicopter, stationed near

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, was dismantled, flown to

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

by a Bristol Freighter and reassembled. Captain André then flew into Tu Vu despite heavy mist and anti-aircraft fire. There, she triaged the casualties, operated on the most pressing cases and then flew the urgent wounded back to Hanoi, two at a time. Later, she was put in command of a casualty evacuation flight. She continued in Algeria as a Medical Commander in 1960, where she completed 365 war missions. She rose to the rank of Medical Lieutenant Colonel in 1965 then to Medical Colonel in 1970. She had a total of 3200 flight hours, and received 7 citations of the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. She has written two collections of memoirs : ''Ici, Ventilateur! Extraits d'un carnet de vol.'' (Calmann-Lévy, 1954) and ''Madame le général'' (Perrin, 1988). She is one of eight women to hold the Grand-croix (Great Cross) rank in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, with

Germaine Tillion Germaine Tillion (30 May 1907 – 18 April 2008) was a French ethnologist, best known for her work in Algeria in the 1950s on behalf of the French government. A member of the French resistance, she spent time in the Ravensbrück concentration ...

Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz (25 October 1920 – 14 February 2002) was a member of the French Resistance and served as president of ATD Quart Monde. Her uncle was General Charles de Gaulle. French Resistance Geneviève de Gaulle joined ...

Jacqueline de Romilly Jacqueline Worms de Romilly (; née David, Greek: Ζακλίν ντε Ρομιγύ, 26 March 1913 – 18 December 2010) was a French philologist, classical scholar and fiction writer. She was the first woman nominated to the Collège de France, an ...

, Simone Rozès,

Christiane Desroches Noblecourt Christiane Desroches Noblecourt (; 17 November 1913 – 23 June 2011) was a French Egyptologist. She was the author of many books on Egyptian art and history and was also known for her role in the International Campaign to Save the Monuments ...

, Yvette Farnoux et Gilberte Champion. She is the aunt of politician

André Santini André Santini (; born 20 October 1940) is a French politician and current mayor of Issy-les-Moulineaux, Hauts-de-Seine. A former member of the UDF, he did not support François Bayrou, the candidate of his party for the first round of the ...

. She turned 100 on 21 April 2022.

Decorations

;French * Grand-croix of the Legion of Honour (19 December 1999); previously Chevalier on 25 February 1953 * Grand-croix of the

Ordre National du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

in 1987, the first woman to receive this distinction. *

Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

with 7 citations. *

Croix de Guerre des Théâtres d'opérations extérieures The ''Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieurs'' (War Cross for foreign operational theatres), also called the ''Croix de Guerre TOE'' for short, is a French military award denoting citations earned in combat in foreign countri ...

* Médaille de la Valeur Militaire * Médaille commémorative d'Indochine, *

Médaille de l'Aéronautique The Aeronautical Medal (french: "Médaille de l'Aéronautique") is a state decoration of France established by the decree of February 14, 1945. It is awarded to both military personnel and civilians for outstanding accomplishments related to t ...

* Médaille du Combattant Volontaire (1944), * Médaille de Vermeil du service de santé. * Grande Médaille d'or du l'Aéro-club de France ;Foreign decorations *

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

(USA), *

National Order of Vietnam The National Order of Vietnam ( vi, Bảo Quốc Huân Chương) was a combined military-civilian decoration of South Vietnam and was considered the highest honor that could be bestowed upon an individual by the Republic of Vietnam government. ...

Cross of Valour (Canada) The Cross of Valour (french: Croix de la vaillance) is a decoration that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the second highest award (surpassed only by the Victoria Cross), the highest honour available for Canadian civilians, and the hig ...

References

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/08/10/83798288.html?pageNumber=4

External links

A brief article on the Website of l'INA

A brief profile on the French Ministry of Defense Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Valerie French generals Female army generals French Resistance members 1922 births French centenarians Military personnel from Strasbourg Army aviation personnel Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the National Order of Vietnam Living people Helicopter pilots French aviators French women aviators Physicians from Strasbourg French memoirists French women memoirists 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French women writers French military personnel of the First Indochina War Women centenarians https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/08/10/83798288.html?pageNumber=4