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Wallace B. Kirkpatrick (1921-2017) attended radio & business school in Port Arthur, Texas, and later entered the Civil Service working as a clerk at Fort Sam Houston. After the breakout of World War II, Kirkpatrick enlisted in the Army Air Corps and attended Navigation School in California before being assigned to a B-17 group in 1942. Commissioned as a lieutenant, the 306th BG was sent to the RAF base at Thurleigh, England.

On January 13, 1943, while on his 3rd mission, Kirkpatrick's B-17 went down in Lille, France. Accounts differ as to whether the loss of a wing was due to enemy fire or a collision with Allied aircraft. He bailed out of the crippled plane and landed safely, but in the custody of the Germans.
From January 1943 until April 1945 Kirkpatrick experienced numerous interrogations, solitary confinement, forced marches in extreme winter conditions, and lack of sanitary conditions. Having been relocated from one prison to another Kirkpatrick ended up at Stalag Luft III, where he assisted the British POWs in digging tunnels for an elaborate escape plan. He also "procured" Romex and other materials needed in the building of those tunnels while working in the camp's theater. By the end of his military career in 1976 Kirkpatrick rose to the rank of major, and earned numerous medals and citations for his thirty-five years of distinguished service.