Dennis Traynor was commissioned in the Air Force after graduating from the University of Georgia. The Co-Pilot of his C5A mission that earned him the Air Force Cross was Captain Tilford W. Harp, who also received the Air Force Cross for this action during the operation generally called “Operation Babylift” and which was executed during the evacuation of Saigon. It was the LAST action of the Vietnam War (exclusive of the SS Mayaguez Rescue in Cambodia) to merit the Air Force Cross. Dennis Traynor retired in 1995 as a U.S. Air Force Colonel.