More than 40 Bears players and members of the organization served in the Armed Forces during World War II, including Hall of Famers Danny Fortmann, Sid Luckman, George McAfee and Joe Stydahar. Luckman was stationed stateside and was permitted to travel on weekends to play in games for a while. But he was later assigned to a tanker carrying gasoline to Europe. During the Normandy invasion, Luckman was on a transport ferrying troops from Britain to France.
Only one Bears player paid the ultimate price during the war. Young Bussey, a backup quarterback who appeared in 10 games for the 1941 NFL champions, was killed at the battle of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines on Jan. 7, 1945.
Bussey grew up in the Houston area and starred at LSU, leading the Tigers in rushing in 1937 and in passing in 1937 and ’38. Selected by the Bears in the 20th round of the 1940 draft, he made his NFL debut in 1941, earning Pro Bowl honors in his only pro season after passing for 353 yards and five touchdowns.
As Luckman’s backup, Bussey saw limited action in the Bears’ regular-season finale, a 34-24 win over the Chicago Cardinals Dec. 7 at Comiskey Park. During the game, an announcement was made that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by Japanese bombers that morning.
The following summer, Bussey threw one touchdown pass in leading the Bears to a 21-0 win over the College All-Stars before a crowd of 101,103 spectators at Soldier Field. Shortly after that contest, he informed Halas that he was enlisting in the Naval Reserve.
Bussey reported to Officer Candidate School, attained the rank of lieutenant and was assigned to the USS Warren, an attack transport in the Pacific Theater. He received a commendation from Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, for his actions as an assistant beachmaster during the Battle of Guam in 1944. Bussey participated in 10 amphibious assaults. He was then named Warren’s head beachmaster for the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines.
Tragically, Bussey was killed in that battle on Jan. 7, 1945, when his landing craft took a direct hit from a Japanese mortar. He was just 27 years old.
Sharing Bussey’s story
Joey Olivieri is a PhD candidate at the University of Virginia and creator of Salvaging Historya project dedicated to preserving the stories of Americans through original signatures and artifacts.
Olivieri located Bussey’s signature in a San Jacinto High School yearbook from the 1930s when he attended the school in Houston. Olivieri made the discovery from his computer in Virginia while paging through the yearbook on the website of Whiting Books, a bookstore located in Fulshear, Texas.
Source: www.chicagobears.com
