George Finck was born on August 28, 1933, in Lakeport, New York. He was commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program on July 15, 1955, and went on active duty beginning April 10, 1956. After completing Undergraduate Pilot Training, Lt Finck was assigned as a C-118 Liftmaster pilot with the 58th, 18th, and the 30th Air Transport Squadron at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, from September 1957 to July 1963. During this time, he participated in missions supporting the Lebanon Crisis in 1958 and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Capt Finck then served with Headquarters Eastern Transport Air Force of the Military Air Transport Service, also at McGuire, from July 1963 to March 1964. His next assignment was to MacDill AFB, Florida, where he served with Headquarters U.S. Strike Command from March 1964 to November 1967. He flew 201 combat missions in Southeast Asia as a C-7 Caribou pilot with the 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Cam Ranh Bay AB in the Republic of Vietnam from January 1968 to February 1969, and then served with the 2849th Air Base Group at Hill AFB, Utah, from February to August 1969. Maj Finck then served with the 2856th Air Base Group and the 416th Combat Support Group at Griffiss AFB, New York, from August 1969 to July 1971. He served with the 1st Combat Evaluation Group at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, from July 1971 to May 1975. Col Finck's final assignment was as Commander of the Air Force ROTC detachment at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where he served from July 1976 until his retirement from the Air Force on July 31, 1978.

His Air Force Cross Citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, awards the Air Force Cross to Major George C. Finck for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as a C-7A Aircraft Commander near Duc Lap, Republic of Vietnam, on 24 August 1968. On that date, Major Finck flew the first night combat airdrop ever flown in a C-7A through a hostile environment of heavy antiaircraft and automatic weapons fire in which five other aircraft had been shot down while attempting to resupply the camp. Despite intense ground fire and battle damage to his aircraft, Major Finck made a second pass over the embattled camp to deliver sufficient ammunition, medical supplies, and water to the beleaguered defenders who would have been overrun without this vital resupply. Through extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of an opposing armed force, Major Finck has reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.