page_title: John Bushemi
section_title: Combat photographer
hierarchical_section_title: John Bushemi / Career / Combat photographer
caption_attribution_description: English: Operations Against the Japanese on Arundel and Sagekarsa Islands by John Bushemi, 1943.
context_page_description: John A. Bushemi was an American, best known for his service as a World War II combat photographer and filmmaker for the U.S. Army. Bushemi, the son of Sicilian immigrants, was born in Centerville, Iowa, and grew up in Taylorville, Illinois, and Gary, Indiana. He joined the Gary Post-Tribune in 1936 as an apprentice photographer and became known for his sports photography. While working at the Post-Tribune he earned the nickname of "One Shot" for his abilities to capture moments on film with one click of his camera shutter. 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.
context_section_description: 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 Yank's 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.
caption: Operations Against the Japanese on Arundel and Sagekarsa Islands by John Bushemi, 1943.
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