Born in April, 1929 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, this U.S. Navy Air cadet was killed on December 4, 1951 at Cabaniss Field near Corpus Christi, Texas, when his Bearcat fighter aircraft went into a spin and crashed beside a runway.  He was twenty-two years old, had enlisted in September 1950, and was within three weeks of receiving his fighter pilot's wings. 

While at Dickinson he was a popular member of the varsity swim team and Phi Delta Theta.  Called "Long John" because of his six foot three inch height, John Cliffe graduated with the class of 1950.