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.