College Louisiana State Positions Quarterback High school San Jacinto (TX) Battles and wars World War II | Name Young Bussey Role American football player | |
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Date of birth (1917-10-04)October 4, 1917 Place of birth Timpson, Texas, United States Date of death January 7, 1945(1945-01-07) (aged 27) Place of death Lingayen Gulf, Philippines † Died January 7, 1945, Lingayen Gulf, Philippines Education Louisiana State University NFL draft 1940 (Round: 20 / Pick: 187) | ||
Service/branch United States Navy | ||
Ruey Young Bussey (October 4, 1917 – January 7, 1945) was a professional American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). Bussey was killed in action during World War II.
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Biography
Ruey Young Bussey was born in Timpson, Texas, and the youngest child of Katie Lee (Katherine L. Hughes) Bussey and Thomas Wade Bussey. The family later moved to Humble, located near Houston. Young's father worked several odd jobs, before landing a supervisory position at a firm that manufactured train equipment. However, in 1928, Tom mysteriously disappeared from the family, and later died in March 1935.
When his mother became become the head of the household, Young and his brother worked to help to support the family delivering milk.
Young excelled at sports, such as football, baseball, boxing, wrestling, swimming, diving, water polo, track and his favorite, basketball. At age 12, Young had become so coordinated that his teacher had to “rig” the softball teams during recess to help prevent Young from dominating the game. He attracted the attention of local sports writers in Houston while attending San Jacinto High School, which was located in an affluent area of Houston. His classmates at San Jacinto included Walter Cronkite and Dr. Denton Cooley, the founder of the Texas Heart Institute.
Young's skills and antics drew unequalled crowds to Houston high school games. At Louisiana State University he studied engineering. However, he routinely clashed with the school's coaching staff and administrators. Bulldog Turner, a teammate with the Chicago Bears, later said that "Coaching Young was nearly impossible."
World War II
Bussey was playing for the Bears the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. He decided to leave the NFL to join the Navy in 1942. He attained the rank of lieutenant and was assigned to the Pacific Theater. In 1944 his unit was assigned to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation. Bussey was killed at the Battle of Lingayen Gulf on January 7, 1945. He was the only Bears casualty of the war.