Meet Virginia Hall: A True Legend
Virginia Hall was special for a laundry list of reasons — but here’s the headline:
She almost single-handedly established and maintained the French Resistance during World War II.
Let’s set the stage. France was occupied by Nazi Germany from June 1940 to fall 1944 — brutal years where the Nazis terrorized the French people with unspeakable violence and oppression.
When France fell, the Allies (Britain, America, and, complicatedly, Russia) lost the last major foothold in Europe. France’s location made it essential for any hope of launching a counterattack and that meant people on the ground in France would be critical.
Enter Virginia.
Virginia’s Early Life
Virginia was born in Maryland and had a happy childhood. She was ambitious, attending Harvard and Columbia, and dreamed of a life beyond the traditional expectations for women at the time. While many women were forced into choosing marriage and motherhood, Virginia wanted more — and she wasn’t shy about it.
She studied abroad in Europe, worked at American consulates, and loved her work, even though she constantly battled sexism and was passed over for promotions she clearly deserved.
Tragedy Strikes And Virginia Fights On
In 1933, while stationed in Turkey, Virginia accidentally shot herself in the foot while hunting.
Gangrene set in. She had to have her leg amputated below the knee.
Most people would have packed it in after something like that.
Not Virginia.
She named her wooden prosthetic “Cuthbert," stayed in Europe, and kept working… refusing to let her disability define or limit her.
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