John Finlayson served in the U.S. Army Air Force as a First Lieutenant in the 343rd Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force based at Wormingford, England during World War II. A pilot of a P-51 Mustang, he was killed in action in a plane crash over the English Channel returning from a mission in Germany on January 18, 1945. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England.
