On March 3, 1944, Vander Meer joined the United States Navy and was stationed at Sampson Naval Training Station in New York where he would play for the Navy baseball team.
While stationed at Sampson Air Force Base during his military service in the 1950s, Guthrie met his wife, Elodia Sanchez, a Guatemalan nursing student.
The park is on the site of Sampson Naval Base during World War II and Sampson Air Force Base during the Korean War.
The former Sampson Naval Training Base, that became the Sampson Air Force Base and is now a New York State Park on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake were named in his honor.
United States Air Force | Royal Air Force | United States Army Air Forces | Royal Canadian Air Force | Indian Air Force | United States Air Force Academy | Special Air Service | X-Force | Fleet Air Arm | National Air and Space Museum | Royal Australian Air Force | First Australian Imperial Force | Strategic Air Command | Delta Air Lines | Air Canada | Israeli Air Force | International Air Transport Association | Air Training Command | United States Army Air Corps | French Air Force | Air National Guard | Edwards Air Force Base | Air Education and Training Command | Air France | Royal Naval Air Service | First Air Force | South African Air Force | Wright-Patterson Air Force Base | Air Ministry | Wacken Open Air |