John Campbell was born on the fourth of July, 1917, in Hightstown, New Jersey. The son of a carpet weaver who never finished high school, he attended the Peddie School in his home town and entered Dickinson on September 16, 1937 as a member of the class of 1941.  While at the College, he participated in soccer, baseball, and basketball.  Nicknamed "Soupy," he was also very active in campus organizations, including the Student Senate, the Athletic Association, Microcosm, and Omicron Delta Kappa.  He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, serving as treasurer and president, and of Raven's Claw. 

Shortly after graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and after being accepted as a flying cadet was commissioned in the fall of 1942.  He was assigned to North Africa following the landings there and was posted as missing  on March 31, 1943 when a flight he was on did not return. He was later declared as killed in action.