John Bushemi

Bushemi enlisted in the army in June 1941. After taking basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he remained there as a staff photographer in its public relations office. In June 1942 Bushemi was reassigned as a staff photographer to Yank, a weekly magazine for enlisted men, and was based in its editorial office in New York City. In November 1942 Bushemi was transferred to Hawaii, where he and Yank correspondent Merle Miller opened its Pacific bureau. Bushemi covered the Pacific Theater of Operations for Yank, including the fighting in New Georgia, Munda, Solomon Islands, Makin, Tarawa, and Kwajalein, and was killed in action at Eniwetok in the central Pacific in 1944. Bushemi received a posthumous Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his military service. Bushemi's photographs have appeared in Yank, the Saturday Evening Post, the New York Times Magazine, the Gary Post-Tribune, the Field Artillery Journal, and in museum and library exhibitions. Among other awards for his photography, Bushemi was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 2001.

• Name — John A. Bushemi • Born — 19 April 1917 • Birthplace — Centerville, Iowa • Died — 19 February 1944 • Place of death — Eniwetok, central Pacific • Death Cause — Killed in action • Resting Place — Mount Mercy Cemetery, Gary, Indiana • Citizenship — U.S. • Occupation — photojournalist • Years Active — 1936–1944 • Employer — Gary Post-Tribune and the U.S. government • Known for — World War II combat photography in Yank magazine • Parents — Pietro Buscemi and Angelina Cariota Buscemi • Awards — Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for U.S. military service

Bushemi was born in Centerville, Iowa, on April 19, 1917. He was the son of Italian immigrants, the seventh of nine children (six boys and three girls). John's father, Pietro Buscemi, was a native of Calascibetta, Sicily, who immigrated to the United States in 1906, while John's mother, Angelina Cariota, arrived in 1909 with Pietro and Angelina's eldest son, Mario (later called Marion J. Bushemi), and a daughter, Vincenzina (later called Margaret V. Polizzotto). Pietro worked in coal mining in Iowa. In 1925 the family moved to Taylorville, Illinois, where Pietro worked for the Peabody Coal Company. The family surname was Americanized to Bushemi in the early 1930s. In May 1930, the family relocated to Gary, Indiana, where Pietro found employment at U.S. Steel. As a teen John participated in Golden Gloves boxing tournaments and earned spending money during the Great Depression giving haircuts in the basement of his family's home. Bushemi attended Gary's Lew Wallace High School, but quit school during his junior year to work in the steel mills with his father and brothers. Intending to become a professional photographer, Bushemi used wages from his steel industry job to purchase his first camera. He developed the film in a darkroom set up in the family's home in Gary.

• "An American Soldier" cover photo, Field Artillery Journal, January 1942 issue. • Cover photo, Yank, May 30, 1943, issue, British edition • Cover photo, Yank, October 17, 1943, British edition • Cover photo, Yank, November 28, 1943, British edition • Cover photo, Yank, March 31, 1944, issue • Feature story photos for "Story of an Infantry Battle in New Georgia" by Mack Morriss, Yank, October 15, 1943, issue • Feature story photos for "The Five-Day Attack on Hastings Ridge" by Mack Morriss, Yank, November 19, 1943, issue • Feature story photos for "Jungle Mop-Up" by Mack Morriss, Yank, November 26, 1943, issue • Feature story photos for "After the Battle of Kwajalein" by Merle Miller, Yank, March 10, 1944, issue • "Death Battle at Tarawa", written by Bushemi, with revisions from Yank editors in New York, December 24, 1943, issue. • Bushemi photographs have appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, the New York Times Magazine, and the Gary Post-Tribune.

On June 24, 1936, at age nineteen, Bushemi was hired by the Gary Post-Tribune as an apprentice photographer and was best known for his action shots of sporting events. Bushemi's snapshots of sports, breaking news, and crime scenes earned him the nickname of "One Shot" because of his ability to capture significant moments on film with one click of his camera's shutter. Bushemi's sports photos won awards in contests sponsored by the Indiana Associated Press and the Inland Daily Press Association, but he could also capture quieter settings and nature scenes. Bushemi joined U.S. Army in 1941 and became the inspiration for the Post-Tribunes "Dear Johnny" newsletter, which summarized happenings at home for soldiers who were stationed overseas. In July 1941 Bushemi was inducted into the U.S. Army at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana, and took basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was appointed to Fort Bragg's public relations office as a staff photographer, where his fellow staff member and close friend was Marion Hargrove, author of See Here, Private Hargrove (1942), a bestseller made into a subsequent movie about Hargrove's experiences in the military. Bushemi was included as a principal character in Hargrove's book. Bushemi's publicity photo of Hargrove appeared on the book's back cover.

• Illustration — Operations Against the Japanese on Arundel and Sagekarsa Islands by John Bushemi, 1943. In June 1942 Bushemi was assigned as a staff photographer to Yank, a new weekly magazine for the army's enlisted men. Bushemi was first assigned to the Yank editorial offices in New York City. While based in New York City, Bushemi shot photographs to illustrate articles on subjects such as women working at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, desert warfare training in California, the World Series, and Hollywood actresses. In November 1942 Bushemi and staff writer Merle Miller were transferred to Hawaii to open Yank's Pacific bureau. While stationed at Waikiki, Bushemi learned the techniques of filmmaking from Colonel Frank Capra, the former Hollywood director. In addition to taking still photographs, Bushemi shot several movies while covering the Pacific War. Bushemi cut and edited the films himself, adding "A One Shot Production" to the beginning of each one. From Yanks base in Hawaii, Bushemi traveled on assignment to New Caledonia, the Fiji Islands, and Australia. Bushemi’s photographs were part of the exhibition "Yank Illustrates the War" held at the Museum of Modern Art in the spring of 1943. Several Bushemi photographs have appeared on the covers of Yank. In August 1943 Bushemi covered his first combat assignment in New Georgia in the Solomon Islands with Yank correspondent Mack Morriss. Bushemi's photographs were published with Morriss's feature stories in the October 15, November 19, and November 26, 1943, issues of Yank. Bushemi's next combat assignment, in November 1943, was at Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, where he was the only photographer to cover both invasions. Bushemi's article, "Death Battle at Tarawa", appeared in the December 24, 1943, issue of Yank, after editorial revisions were made in the New York office. Bushemi's photographs at Tarawa didn’t turn out well and were not published; however, Yank made extensive use of his photographs from Makin, including a cover photo and in accompanying articles in the December 31, 1943, issue. For his work Bushemi used a Bell and Howell movie camera, a Rolleiflex, and a handheld Speed Graphic, which he often used for combat photos. In January 1944 Bushemi and Miller covered combat during Operation Flintlock at Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands. Bushemi's Marshall Islands photographs, among his last, appeared in the March 10, 1944, issue of Yank with Miller's article, "After the Battle of Kwajalein". While boarding a landing craft after the battle, Bushemi broke a finger in his left hand, but refused to return to Honolulu as he anticipated his next combat assignment. Bushemi was covering his fifth battle assignment for Yank when he was killed in action on February 19, 1944. Bushemi and Miller had landed on Eniwetok atoll, 350 miles northwest of Kwajalein in the central Pacific, when Bushemi, who was at the front filming and photographing the American landing, was fatally wounded.