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The Angel of Dien Bien Phu: The Lone French Woman at the Decisive Battle for Vietnam
Author(s): Genevieve de Galard (Author)
- Publisher: Naval Institute Press
- Publication Date: 15 Oct. 2010
- Language: English
- Print length: 208 pages
- ISBN-10: 9781591142065
- ISBN-13: 1591142067
Book Description
Genevieve de Galard was a flight nurse for the French Air Force who received the name of the “Angel of Dien Bien Phu” during the French war in Indochina. She arrived there in May 1953 and was stationed in Hanoi, flying on casualty evacuation flights from Pleiku. After January 1954 she was on the flights that evacuated casualties from the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. On March 27 1954 Galard went to a field hospital under command of doctor Paul Grauwin and volunteered her services as a nurse after her plane was damaged and stranded. The all-male medical staff were initially apprehensive, but made accommodations for her. She did her best in very unsanitary conditions, trying to keep up morale in the face of the mounting casualties. On April 29 1954 Genevieve de Galard was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre, and the following day De Galard was made an honorary”Legionnaire de 1ère classe”. French troops at Dien Bien Phu finally capitulated on May 7. However, Galard and the medical staff were allowed to continue to care for their wounded. When some of the Vietminh begun to hoard medical supplies for their own use, she hid some of them under her stretcher bed. On May 24, Genevieve de Galard was evacuated to French-held Hanoi, partially against her will. About the Author Genevieve de Galard,”Angel of Dien Bien Phu”, was a flight nurse for the French Air Force during the French war in Indochina. She was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre. On 29 July 1954 President Eisenhower awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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About the Author
Genevieve de Galard was a flight nurse for the French Air Force who received the name of the “Angel of Dien Bien Phu” during the French war in Indochina. She volunteered for French Indochina and arrived there in May 1953, in the middle of the war between French forces and the Vietminh. During the battle she was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre. On 29 July 1954 President Eisenhower awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, DC. She currently lives in Paris with her husband.
