Burrows had an early success with his coverage of the demolition of the
Heligoland U-Boat Pens in 1947. Working for the
Associated Press, Burrows was a passenger in a
De Havilland Dragon Rapide. Officially they were supposed to go no closer than to the island. However, Burrows persuaded the pilot to fly over at only , knocking out the window
perspex when it obscured his shot. For his efforts he was able to take eleven images and earned himself two pages in
Life magazine. Burrows would go on to cover stories in
Suez,
Lebanon,
Cyprus,
Central Africa, and
Vietnam.
Vietnam Burrows went on to become a photographer and covered the war in
Vietnam from 1962 until his death in 1971. One of Burrows' most famous images was published first in a
Life magazine article on 16 April 1965 named
One Ride with Yankee Papa 13, about a mission on 31 March 1965. Flying in a helicopter with the US Marines' Medium Helicopter Squadron 163, Burrows captured the death of Yankee Papa 3 co-pilot Lieutenant James Magel. At the
landing zone Magel was assisted to Yankee Papa 13, where airborne door gunner Lance C. Farley gave first aid. It was to no avail and Burrows captured Farley's distress at the loss of his comrade. Of the photograph Burrows said:
Reaching Out was another famous image. It features
US Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeremiah Purdie, who while wounded, is seen reaching out to wounded Lance Corporal Roger Dale Treadway. Life.com editor Ben Cosgrove said of the photograph:
Reaching Out was taken on 5 October 1966 after the Marines were ambushed on Mutter's Ridge. However, the image was not featured in
Life until February 1971, following Burrows' death. == Death ==