• John Kirk Singlaub was born in Independence, Inyo County, California July 10, 1921. He graduated from Van Nuys High School, California, in 1939. He graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where he was the Cadet Colonel of the ROTC Regiment. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry on 14 January 1943. He volunteered immediately for parachute duty and following graduation from jump school was assigned to a Parachute Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. Here, he served as a rifle platoon leader and regimental demolition officer. In October 1943, he volunteered for overseas duty with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

• In December 1943, he joined a group of allied officers in northern Scotland for several months of British Commando training. Shortly before the invasion of southern France in 1944, General Singlaub led a three-man team which parachuted into the Massif Central portion of France to organize, train, and lead French resistance units which provided assistance to the Allied Invasion Forces soon to land on the Mediterranean Coast of France.

• In December 1944, General Singlaub left Europe enroute to the Far East for another unconventional warfare assignment. This time, he was the leader of a team which trained and led Chinese Guerillas for operations against the Japanese on the border between China and Indo-China.