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.

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.

[4] 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.

[5][6] 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.

[9] Bushemi joined U.S. Army in 1941 and became the inspiration for the Post-Tribune's "Dear Johnny" newsletter, which summarized happenings at home for soldiers who were stationed overseas.

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.

[17] 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.

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.

[22] On February 19, 1944, shrapnel from 60mm enemy mortar shells exploded near a group of journalists and photographers covering the American landing on Eniwetok atoll in the central Pacific.

[23] His last words to Merle Miller, one of the Yank correspondents who covered the Pacific War and was with Bushemi at Eniwetok, were: "Be sure to get those pictures back to the office.

[25][26] On February 22 a memorial service was held aboard the Neville for Bushemi and Lieutenant Kermit Chapman, who was also killed in the fighting at Eniwetok.