Jim Perry

Chickasaw Nation Honor Guard member Jim Perry prefers to be called “Jim,” not “Mr. Perry.”

“When people call me ‘Mister,” it makes me feel like they think I’m above them, and I’m not,” he said.

The same humility can be found in Jim’s service to his tribe and the Honor Guard. At any event during which the Honor Guard is featured, you can find Jim in line, playing the bugle.

“There is nothing greater than honoring these people,” he said. “If the Chickasaw Nation Honor Guard didn’t exist, I’d still find a way to do it.”

Jim was born in Ada, Okla., in 1935 and raised in nearby Union Valley. He attended Stonewall schools. He still remembers the exact date, June 18, 1958, on which he received the letter from the United States Government, asking for his service in the Army.

“I was about to turn 22,” he said, “and now I was in the Army. I had never had to shave before the Army!”

Jim did a two-year stint in the service, but stayed within the United States. He was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, Fort Lewis, Washington and in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Thirty days after discharge, however, Jim was called on to go to Vietnam.

“I was glad to do what I did,” he said. “There was so much protest, but I’m glad I did it.”

After six years serving in the Army, Jim returned to the Ada area and worked in landscaping, welding and in the drill bit business. He eventually started his own bit company, 3P’s Bit Shop with his wife and son.

In his retirement, Jim still enjoys working on lawnmowers and other machinery and doing metal work. Serving as a Chickasaw Honor Guard member is a permanent priority for Jim.

“They take care of me,” he said. “They are my family.”