John Dorsey, born in 1922, grew up on Locust Street in Erlanger, Kentucky. He graduated from St. Henry High School and joined the Army Air Corps at the start of World War II. He served as a navigator on a B-29 bomber over Europe and Northern Africa. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters.

After his service, he returned to Northern Kentucky and raised eight children with his wife, Ilda. He passed away in 2020.