John William Guckeyson (; July 7, 1915 – May 21, 1944) was an American athlete and military aviator. He was the first

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

football player selected in the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. Guckeyson was killed in combat as a fighter pilot during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life and college career

Guckeyson was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He attended

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located at 4301 East-West Highway, in Bethesda, Maryland, Bethesda. Part of the Montgomery County Public Schools ...

, where he played basketball, soccer, and competed in

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

. At the 1932 Maryland state track meet, he won the

100-yard dash The 100-yard dash is a track and field sprint event of . It was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1970, and was included in the triathlon of the Olympics in 1904. It is not generally used in international events, replaced by the 100- ...

with a time of 10.2 seconds and set a state

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

record——that stood for 28 years. He was the captain of the varsity soccer team for three years and of the basketball team for two years. He graduated from high school in 1933. Although B-CC had no football team, Guckeyson's soccer skills won him a football scholarship to the

,A Social History of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School 1925–1980
, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, retrieved 22 December 2008. where he played football, basketball, and baseball, and ran track. He set the school

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

record: . In 1935 and 1936, he was named an All-

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

football player and an honorable-mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...

—who coached football for 40 years at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Clemson,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, and Maryland—said Guckeyson was the best athlete he had known. He earned nine

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

s during his four years at Maryland. During his senior year, Guckeyson was elected class president.

Military career

Upon graduation from Maryland, Guckeyson was selected by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

in the sixth round of the

1937 NFL draft The 1937 NFL draft was the second draft held by the National Football League (NFL). The draft took place December 12, 1936, at the Hotel Lincoln in New York City. The draft consisted of 10 rounds, with 100 player selections, two of which would ...

, the first Maryland player so selected.Terps in the Pros
(PDF), ''2000 Maryland Football Media Guide'', University of Maryland Terrapins official website, 2000, retrieved 22 December 2008. However, he turned down offers to play professional sports, and instead accepted a nomination to attend the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point. Guckeyson, no longer eligible to play football, was named a first-team All-American in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in 1941, the first Army soccer player to earn the distinction. Once again, he was elected class president. Guckeyson graduated from West Point in 1942 and received a commission as an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He again turned down offers for a professional sports career when the Washington Senators' owner

Clark Griffith Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955, ), nicknamed "the Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Re ...

and pitcher

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...

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 The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

before being deployed overseas in December 1942. As a fighter pilot, Guckeyson earned a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

, three

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

s, and two Distinguished Flying Crosses—the fourth-highest award for combat valor in flight. While serving in the 375th Fighter Squadron,

361st Fighter Group The 127th Operations Group is a unit of the Michigan Air National Guard. It is stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and is one of two flying groups assigned to the 127th Wing. The group operates Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbol ...

, Guckeyson flew a

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

("Contrary Mary"), then a

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

(serial: 42–103349) after his unit switched to the newer aircraft. He was credited with shooting down at least 2.5 enemy aircraft in aerial combat: two

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Bf 109 formed the backbone of the ...

fighters and a Ju-188

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

, which was destroyed with the assistance of another pilot.

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Guckeyson was killed on a strafing run on 21 May 1944 when his P-51 Mustang was shot down.Roll of Honour
361st Fighter Group, retrieved 24 December 2008. His remains are interred at the

Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial is a Second World War American military war grave cemetery, located just outside Saint-Avold, Moselle, France. The cemetery, containing 10,481 American soldiers KIA (the second largest number of American b ...

Saint-Avold Saint-Avold (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Sänt Avuur'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated east of Metz, France and southwest of Saarbrücken, Germany. History The Saint-Avold area ha ...

, France. In 1955, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School named its athletic playing field Guckeyson Memorial Stadium in his honor. He was inducted into the Touchdown Club Hall of Fame, and in 1982, the

University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1982 by the M Club Foundation to honor student-athletes, coaches, and administrators who made significant contributions to athletics at the University of Maryland, College Park, U ...

.University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame: All-Time Inductees
, University of Maryland, retrieved June 12, 2009. Maryland's M Club annually honors the university's most outstanding male student-athlete with the John W. Guckeyson award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guckeyson, Bill 1915 births 1944 deaths Maryland Terrapins football players Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players Maryland Terrapins baseball players Army Black Knights football players Army Black Knights men's soccer players Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Aviators from Maryland People from Chevy Chase, Maryland United States Military Academy alumni Players of American football from Maryland United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Recipients of the Air Medal Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni Men's association football players not categorized by position American men's basketball players United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers American men's soccer players 20th-century American sportsmen Maryland Terrapins men's track and field athletes American male javelin throwers