Interned in Turkey, landed in Izmir, Turkey, while on TDY to 9th AF for Ploesti raid in B-24 'Hitler's Hearse' 42-40544.



Completed 25 combat missions with 389th. On his fifth mission, which involved bombing the German-held oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, where their Liberator "Hitler's Hearse" was severely damaged by artillery fire. Their pilot was killed, and the co-pilot, engineer, radio operator, and top turret gunner were so badly wounded Triantafellu had to take over many of their duties. Standing on a catwalk above an open bomb bay, Triantafellu transferred enough gasoline from the damaged tank to the reserve tank to enable the co-pilot to crash-land in Turkey. All survivors were interred, but Triantafellu escaped after two months and returned to England to complete his combat tour as squadron and later group bombardier of his original unit 389BG.



He served in the Strategic Air Command and Director of Intell for US 8th AF 1954-1962 Served in Vietnam as intelligence director for Hdq. 2nd AD in Saigon. He retired in 1972 after 35 years of military service. He was rated master navigator and the first navigator to reach the rank of general.



Awards: DSM (OLC), LOM (OLC), DFC (OLC), AM (3OLC), Croix de Guerre w/silver star, WWII Victory, EAME, Vietnamese Air Order 2nd Class.