Perry Lee Franklin was born on January 10, 1922 in Oregon, the stepson of Victor and Lillian Gossiaux. The family resided on Arlington Avenue and West 219th Street in Torrance. Franklin attended three years of high school, worked as a mechanic, and married Martha Lynn Cavitt on April 15, 1940.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 14, 1941 at nearby Fort MacArthur in San Pedro.  Private Franklin served with the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion and had been in action in Germany and Belgium. He was overseas for about nine months when he was declared as missing in action in December 1944. 

Available reports and records reveal that he was captured and died, apparently from illness, on January 6, 1945 as a prisoner of war at Stalag IV-B, one of the largest German prison camps in World War II. Conditions on the trains used to transport American prisoners were harsh, and due to the influx of American prisoners taken in the Battle of the Bulge, the camp was grossly overcrowded. 

Many of the American P.O.W.s who died during this time at Stalag IV-B did so due to pneumonia, diphtheria and exposure, and Private Franklin had recently been hospitalized prior to his capture by the Germans. He was initially buried at Neuburxdorf Cemetery in Germany in Grave # 578. On August 7, 1947, his remains were disinterred and he was subsequently reburied at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.

He was survived by his wife and four-year-old son Richard who were living with her parents in Long Beach, along with his stepfather and mother who were residing in Torrance.