Lessons Learned from Madame le General—Doctor, Pilot, Hero

She was a French Army doctor and a trailblazing helicopter rescue pilot. She flew 128 missions and rescued 168 soldiers during the French-Indochina War. Those missions took her to the most dangerous combat zones imaginable. Despite red crosses painted prominently on her aircraft, Valérie was always a target of enemy bullets and mortar fire. She would also become France’s first female Army general.