Corporal Perry was a member of the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 16 July 1950, forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March", and died while a prisoner on a train to Manpo, North Korea on 7 September 1950.

Perry was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.