First Lieutenant Perry was the pilot of a F-80C Shooting Star fighter interceptor with the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Group. On 20 December 1950, while returning from an armed reconnaissance mission, his aircraft suffered a mid-air collision with a Shooting Star from the 25th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.

Perry was awarded 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.