Donald joined the U.S. Army after graduating high school in 1944. He enlisted with his high school classmate John Milton Martin. He served in the Pacific until the end of World War II and was recalled to duty in 1951 during the Korean War where he served at Fort Benning, Georgia. He moved the family to Huntsville, Alabama when he got a civilian job as an electronic technician with the U.S. Army’s Missile Command at the Redstone Arsenal. His work involved collecting data from test firing missile engines. The family car was lost one day when a rocket engine exploded sending large pieces of cement everywhere, including through the hood of the family car. He also worked on the famous Redstone missile, which was designed as a short-range ballistic missile for the Army but was modified to send the first U.S. satellites and men into space.

From U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010

Name: Lawrence Perry
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 1 Nov 1925
Death Date: 8 Jul 1974
SSN: 421265022
Branch 1: ARMY
Enlistment Date 1: 25 Feb 1944
Release Date 1: 15 Mar 1946
Branch 2: ARMY
Enlistment Date 2: 27 Feb 1951
Release Date 2: 3 Dec 1951

Lawrence D. Perry’s second enlistment was as an instructor at Ft. Benning, Georgia during the Korean War.