John Noble Cumming was born on July 12, 1920 in San Francisco County, California. He was the 2nd of 4 children of Clarence Warder and Onie (Martin) Cumming. When John was 3, the family moved to Shanghai, China to be closer to his father who was an inporter/exporter whose business traded in Asia. They later moved to Mexico in 1935 to live with his grandparents after the invasion by the Japanese, then to Manila, PI.

John was a student at Santa Clara Unversity and later at Harvard. He enlisted in WWII and flew B-29 airplanes. He was killed when his plane crashed in the Himilayas on June 26, 1944 in India at the age of 23. He is now buried in the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo County, California, USA.

He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China but hid middle name's initial is inscribed as M.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com