and a brigadier general in 1975—the first woman to achieve the rank in the French military. In 1982, André was promoted to medical inspector general. During the latter part of her career,
André with Alexis Santini at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, Vietnam, 1951. André’s future husband, Santini was the first commander to welcome her into the French Air Force as a helicopter rescue pilot.
napalm to disperse the enemy Viet Minh, who targeted her. Te Hiller was often mechanically temperamental, once stranding André in a no-man’s-land when a cooling-fan gearbox failed. Fortunately, French troops found her before the Viet Minh did. On another mission, her wounded patient regained consciousness midflight and, in a panic, tried to wrest control of the helicopter. André was able to fight the soldier off and maintain control of her machine until he fell back into a coma. André proved her mettle as a pilot in both health and
sickness and earned the respect of all who served with her. She went on to serve in Algeria as both a medical rescue and troop transport pilot and chief medical officer for the Reghaïa air base near Algiers. By this time, she had grad- uated to piloting the more sophisticated Sikorsky H-34 and Sud Aviation Alouette II. When she returned to France in 1962, André continued
serving in the French Army as a medical officer assigned to air bases throughout the country. She never lost her fascination with helicopters. When inspecting the bases, André was assigned an Alouette II to cover the wide dis- tances between locations. In 1963, André and Santini married. Of the commander
who first believed in her skills as a pilot, André says Santini was the man who “mattered most” in her life.
A Distinguished Career André received numerous commendations and medals of honor for her service. She remained in the French Army and rose through the ranks, becoming a colonel in 1970
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she lobbied for gender equality based on merit for women pursuing medical careers in the military. André garnered support from members of the French National Assembly to level admission standards that had favored male over female applicants. As a result of André’s effort, women now represent more than 50% of the medical corps’ personnel. In April 2024, André celebrated her 102nd birthday. A modest and gracious person, she lives quietly in her adopted town of Issy-les- Moulineaux, near Paris. But she’s
always fought fiercely for the causes she believes in. “I have always been a rebel,” André says. “I rebelled against
outdated injustices or outdated traditions. But I was always a rebel who liked order … and risks.”
Editor’s note: Charles Morgan Evans is the author of Helicopter Heroine—Valérie André—Surgeon, Pioneer Rescue Pilot, and Her Courage Under Fire, published by Stackpole Books, 2023. For ordering information, visit
hai.rotor.org/WKLe6J.
André in Paris, May 2017. André, the first woman promoted to the rank of general in the French Army, was awarded the Grand Officer Legion of Honor on Sep. 18, 1981. (Charles Morgan Evans)
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