When Katie became the head of the household, Young worked to help to support the family by delivering milk, waking up at 3:00 AM to walk his delivery route.
Bussey excelled at sports, such as football, baseball, boxing, wrestling, swimming, diving, water polo, track and his favorite, basketball.
As a teenager, Bussey attended San Jacinto High School, where his athletic skills and brash antics drew large crowds at games and attracted the attention of local sports writers.
Despite the time constraints of playing a sport and continuing to support his family via his milk delivery route, Bussey still managed to graduate with top grades and a degree in petroleum engineering.
Actual records fail to define just how prolific Young was from the standpoint of points per minute of play...[he] often was sent in for a quick score and then was held in reserve as the Bears' defense dug in to preserve the lead."
The Bears defeated the New York Giants, 37–9, in the 1941 NFL Championship Game on December 21; Bussey attempted just one pass, an 8-yard completion.
Bussey was sent to Officer Candidate School, attained the rank of lieutenant (junior grade), and was assigned to USS Warren (APA-53), an attack transport active in the Pacific Theater.
The night before General Walter Krueger's Sixth Army landed on the beaches of Lingayen Gulf, Bussey turned over his personal effects to Warren's chaplain, telling him, "Tomorrow I make my ascension.
True to his prediction, Bussey was killed on January 7, 1945, when his landing craft took a direct hit from a Japanese mortar after getting stuck on a coral reef 75 yards (69 m) from the beach.