Military
Robert Mooney crew, Lowery Field, Denver, Colorado. 389BG. Rear L-R: Charles E Garrett, Eugene P Spencer, Alex Lubin, Elvin H Henderson, Eber G Ayers, Aaron P Leibowitz. Front L-R: Robert C Mooney, James F Gerrits, John D Wilson, Rockly Triantafellu.
Major General Rockly Triantafellu
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.
Military | Captain | Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
Assigned to 567BS, 389BG, 8AF USAAF. TDY with 9AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Ploesti raid in B-24 42-40544 'Hitler's Hearse'. A/C and crew interned Izmir, Turkey. Killed in Action (KIA)
Awards: DSC, AM, PH.
Group
The 389th Bomb Group, known in more familiar terms as "the Sky Scorpions", flew strategic bombing missions in B-24 Liberators from Hethel, England. They also sent detachments to join bases in North Africa at Benghazi No. 10, Libya, between 3 July 1943...
Squadron
567th Bombardment Squadron, 24 December 1942 - 13 September 1945
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B-24 Liberator
Failed To Return - Ploesti oil refinery raid, 1st Aug 1943, landed near Izmir, Turkey, pilot Robert C Mooney, crew interned.
1 August 1943
Operation TIDAL WAVE. B-24D Liberators attack the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The bombers flew low to avoid radar detection and dropped time delayed bombs. Out of the 177 B-24s that took part in the raid 167 managed to attack their targets. 57...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Daytona Beach, Florida | 17 August 1917 |
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Son of Nick Sr and May [Harney] Triantafellu. |
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| Enlisted | Jacksonville, FL | 12 March 1942 |
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Jacksonville, Florida |
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| Interned | İzmir, Turkey | 1 August 1943 |
| Died | Honolulu, HI | 6 August 2010 |
| Buried | September 2010 | |
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Arlington National Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 18 February 2021 12:18:17 | Al_Skiff | Changes to service number, highest rank, biography, awards, events and unit associations |
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https://www.fold3.com/image/312126436 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 November 2019 12:42:17 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 March 2015 19:43:30 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography, events, unit associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
AAM Database. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:24:20 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR (9thAF), Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol I p. 223 & Page 426 in the book 2ND AIR DIVISIONby Turner Publishing Company, 1998 edition (D790.A2S45) |
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