Regime until the Liberation of La Réunion, after which he joined the Free French Forces and became a low-ranking naval officer on the , serving as radio officer. He then joined the Free French army as a second lieutenant in December 1942, receiving successive promotions to lieutenant (1943), captain (1944), major (July 1945) and lieutenant-colonel (September 1945). When France was facing defeat by the Viet Minh, and the regime of Emperor Bảo Đại proved incapable of gaining any public support, French leader Charles de Gaulle talked to Prince Vĩnh San, who was still very popular in the Vietnamese public memory for his patriotism, about returning to Vietnam as emperor. However, he died in a plane crash in Central Africa on his way home to Vietnam in 1945 and the great hopes of many died with him – as a patriotic challenge to Hồ Chí Minh. For his wartime service, the French posthumously awarded him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and the Officer's Médaille de la Résistance, also appointing him a Companion of the Ordre de la Libération. Reburial in Vietnam In 1987, his son, Prince Bảo Vàng, and the royal family of Vietnam accompanied his father's remains, which were removed from Africa and brought home to Vietnam in a traditional ceremony to rest in the tomb of his grandfather, Emperor Dục Đức. In 2001, Prince Bảo Vang wrote a book titled Duy Tân, Empereur d'Annam 1900–1945 about his father's life. Most cities in Vietnam have named major streets after him. Family 1st wife: Mai Thị Vàng (1899–1980) 2nd wife: Marie Anne Viale (b. 1890) Armand Viale (b. 1919) 3rd wife: Fermande Antier (b. 1913) Thérèse (1928–1928) Rita Suzy Georgette Vinh-San (1929–2020) Solange (1930–1930) Guy Georges Vinh-San (b. 1933) Yves Claude Vinh-San (b. 1934) Joseph Roger Vinh-San (b. 1938) Ginette (1940–1940) 4th wife: Ernestine Yvette Maillot (b. 1924) Andrée Maillot Vinh-San (1945–2011) Images References 1900 births 1945 deaths Child monarchs from Asia Companions of the Liberation Nguyen dynasty emperors Free French military personnel of World War II French Army officers Military personnel of the Free French Naval Forces Monarchs deposed as children Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1945 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Africa Vietnamese exiles Vietnamese monarchs Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese people of World War II Vietnamese revolutionaries