[6][2][7] However, he turned down offers to play professional sports, and instead accepted a nomination to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point.

He again turned down offers for a professional sports career when the Washington Senators' owner Clark Griffith and pitcher Walter Johnson asked him to join the major league.

He attended flight school and was certified as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces before being deployed overseas in December 1942.

[2] As a fighter pilot, Guckeyson earned a Purple Heart, three Air Medals, and two Distinguished Flying Crosses—the fourth-highest award for combat valor in flight.

[14] In 1955, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School named its athletic playing field Guckeyson Memorial Stadium in his honor.