Military Funeral Tributes to General Valérie André, the First Female General in the French Army

Mark Primmer - 1/27/2025

VFW Post 605 was honored to represent American veterans standing together with our French colleagues Union Nationale des Combattants / section d'Issy-les-Moulineaux in the French army’s tribute to a general officer on 27 January 2025 at Les Invalides in Paris. 

The first woman to reach the rank of general in France, André passed away January 21st at the age of 102. 

A veteran of the French Resistance, neurosurgeon, paratrooper and aviator who served throughout Indochina and Algeria, André was the first woman to have piloted a helicopter in a combat zone.

She achieved the rank of General Officer, in 1976, as Physician General. In 1981, she was promoted to Inspector General of Medicine. In 1999, André became the first woman to awarded the Grand-croix (Great Cross) of the Legion of Honour in a military capacity.

During her career, she totalled 4,200 hours of flight, carried out more than a hundred medical evacuations, 496 war missions and seven citations with the war cross. In her honor, the Paris / Issy-les-Moulineaux heliport was named "Valérie André" in March 2022.

VFW Post 605 Commander Timothy Povich and members of the post send their sincere condolences to her family and loved ones.