Hiller Aviation Museum founding curator and historian Charles Morgan Evans talks about his new book Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre: Surgeon, Pioneer Rescue Pilot, and Her Courage Under Fire

Literary Aviatrix: The Power of Story - Women in Aviation

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In this interview with Charles Morgan Evans, historian, founding curator of the Hiller Aviation Museum, and author of two books, War of the Aeronauts: A History of Ballooning in the Civil War and Helicopter Heroine—Valerie Andre: Surgeon, Pioneer Rescue Pilot, and Her Courage Under Fire, we talk about the incredible feats of a woman who flew almost 500 combat missions in Indochina and Algeria in the 1950s-1960, at the same time she was treating traumatic head injuries in battlefield hospitals as a neurosurgeon. Evans shares with us how a photo at Hiller museum piqued his interest in Andre and led him to preserve her story for an English-speaking audience, as well as providing the context and characters who contributed along her journey. Andre went on to be highly decorated for her accomplishments and contributions to aerial combat rescue and combat medicine, and became the first female General in the French Army. She celebrated her 101st birthday in April 2023.

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