Graduate, U.S. Military Academy, Class of 1949.

First Lieutenant Cummings was a member of the 8th Airborne Ranger Company, 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in Korea on 26 November 1950. He was presumed dead on 15 February 1954. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

For his leadership and valor, First Lieutenant Cummings was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.