[1][2] Born on October 19, 1918, in Carterville, Montana, his full name is James Perry Muri, and he was raised in a family of cattle ranchers.

[2] After graduating from Custer County High School in Miles City in 1936, he immediately enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, where he was an aircraft welder for two years.

[2] The day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Muri and his unit were assigned to Muroc Army Airfield, California.

Muri's and his unit's torpedoes failed to hit any Japanese ships, although they did shoot down one Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter and killed two seamen aboard the Akagi with machine-gun fire.

[5] An inspection revealed more than 500 bullet holes in Muri's aircraft, the left tire had been shot off, and all propeller blades and every major system had been damaged.

He soon became a Major and commander of a detachment of the 353d Army Air Force Base Unit at what is now the regional airport in Watertown, South Dakota.