John Bushemi

John A. Bushemi, photographer, was born in Centerville, Iowa, on April 19, 1917. Bushemi was the son of Pietro and Angelina Bushemi, Italian immigrants, and the seventh of nine children. Pietro worked in coal mining until the 1930s, when the family relocated to Gary, Indiana so he could find employment in the steel industry. Bushemi quit school during his junior year at Lew Wallace High School to work in the mills with his father and brothers.

At this time that Bushemi determined to become a professional photographer. At age eighteen, he was hired by the Gary Post-Tribune as an apprentice photographer. During the next five years he became famous for his sports photos and earned the nickname “One Shot” because of his skill at taking memorable photos with one lens manipulation.

In July 1941, Bushemi enlisted in the U.S. Army and took basic training at Fort Bragg. While there, he was appointed the official photographer of the base public relations department. In June, 1942, he was assigned to the staff of Yank magazine, the Army weekly, and eventually was transferred to Hawaii to open Yank’s Pacific bureau. There he learned the techniques of film making from Col. Frank Capra, the former Hollywood director, and made several movies, cutting and editing them himself

During the war years, Bushemi’s photographs were part of the exhibition “Yank Illustrates the War” held at the Museum of Modern Art in the spring of 1943. Eager to be where the action was, Bushemi was eventually able to travel to war zones in the Pacific, as a combat photographer.

Bushemi died on the island of Eniwetok February 19, 1944. While at the front filming the American landing, he was fatally wounded when an enemy mortar shell exploded near him. His last words were: "Be sure to get those pictures back to the office."

Bushemi was buried in Gary, Indiana.

Notes

Boomhower, Ray E. (2004)"One Shot: The World War II Photography of John Bushemi," Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 0871951746; ISBN-13: 978-0871951748

[http://www.depauw.edu/library/archives/ijhof/inductees/bushemij.htm Profile ] at www.depauw.edu