John K . Singlaub John Kirk Singlaub ( born July 10 , 1921 ) is a highly - decorated former OSS officer and a retired Major General in the United States Army , and a founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) . He was a joint founder , with Congressman Larry McDonald , of the Western Goals Foundation , a conservative private intelligence dissemination network . Singlaub is a contributing author to several books and the author of his autobiography as well as numerous articles . Biography . Singlaub was born in Independence , California on July 10 , 1921 . After graduating from Van Nuys High School in 1939 he attended the University of California at Los Angeles and received after graduation his commission as a second lieutenant of infantry on January 14 , 1943 . As a member of the distinguished Operation Jedburgh ( Singlaub was part of the three man team code name JAMES ) , Singlaub parachuted behind German lines in August 1944 to work with the French Resistance fighters or Maquis groups that had swelled the resistance ranks after the D - Day invasion during World War II . He headed CIA operations in postwar Manchuria during the Chinese Communist revolution , led troops in the Korean War , managed the secret war along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam , and worked with the Contras in Nicaragua . In 1977 , while Singlaub was chief of staff of U . S . forces in South Korea , he publicly criticized President Jimmy Carter ' s decision to withdraw U . S . troops from the Korean peninsula . On March 21 , 1977 , Carter relieved him of duty for overstepping his bounds and failing to respect the President ' s authority as Commander - in - Chief . After retiring from the army , in 1979 Singlaub , with John Rees and Democratic Congressman from Georgia , Larry McDonald founded the Western Goals Foundation . According to " The Spokesman - Review " , it was intended to " blunt subversion , terrorism , and communism " by filling the gap " created by the disbanding of the House Un - American Activities Committee " Singlaub was founder in 1981 of the United States Council for World Freedom , the U . S . chapter of the World Anti - Communist League ( WACL ) . The chapter became involved with the Iran – Contra affair , with Associated Press reporting that , " Singlaub ' s private group became the public cover for the White House operation " . The WACL was described by former member Geoffrey Stewart - Smith as " largely a collection of Nazis , Fascists , anti - Semites , sellers of forgeries , vicious racialists , and corrupt self - seekers . " Singlaub is credited with purging the organization of these types and making it respectable . U . S . Army General William Westmoreland described Singlaub as a " true military professional " and " a man of honest , patriotic conviction and courage . " Congressman Henry J . Hyde ( Judiciary , Foreign Affairs , and Intelligence Committees ) , described Singlaub as " a brave man , a thorough patriot , and a keen observer " ; someone who had been " in the center of almost every controversial military action since World War II . " Active for 40 years in overt and covert operations , he had private and secret interviews with many military and government leaders worldwide . He personally knew William Casey , Director of Central Intelligence during the Reagan Administration , as well as Oliver North , and was involved in the Iran – Contra affair . Singlaub was President Reagan ' s administrative chief liaison in the so - called ' private ' Contra supply effort . Through his chairmanship of the world Anti - Communist League ( WACL ) and its U . S . chapter , the U . S . Council for World Freedom ( USCWF ) , he enlisted paramilitary groups , foreign governments , and American conservatives in the contra cause . During his military service , Singlaub was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster , the Silver Star , the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf clusters , the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf cluster , the Air Medal with Oak Leaf cluster , the Army Commendation Medal , and the Purple Heart . His foreign decorations include the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and Bronze Star devices , British Mention in Despatches oak leaf , as well as decorations from China , the Netherlands , and South Vietnam . He lived in Arlington , Virginia , and now lives in Franklin , Tennessee . He is a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation .