John A. Bushemi, was a good-natured, talented photographer from Gary, Indiana who covered several of the island invasions during World War II in the Pacific. This traveling exhibit features reproductions of Bushemi’s photographs “from a rifle’s length vantage point,” according to his colleague and fellow war correspondent Merle Miller. Among the magazine covers and personal photographs from Bushemi’s assignment to YANK, the weekly magazine written by and for enlisted men, are images of soldiers training at Fort Braggs, soldiers on the beach of Entiwok Island in the Marshalls awaiting the order to attack, and close-up portraits of soldiers who were featured in a YANK article about the battle for New Georgia.

Bushemi died February 19, 1944, when shrapnel from Japanese knee-mortar shells hit and mortally wounded the photographer. As navy surgeons frantically attempted to save Bushemi’s life, the photographer gave his epitaph, telling Miller “Be sure to get those pictures back to the office.” Images of both his battleship funeral service and his funeral service back home in Gary are included in the exhibit.

Requires at least 12 feet by 24 feet of floor space.

John Bushemi and Merle Miller on assignment in Hawaii for YANK magazine

(Click image to enlarge)

These soldiers on the beach of Eniwetok Island in the Marshalls had just been landed and were awaiting the order to attack when they were photographed by Bushemi. A little while later these men moved ahead. Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-25604.