At a First-Aid Center during Operation Prairie, also known as Reaching Out

Larry Burrows, artist

1926–1971

At a First-Aid Center during Operation Prairie, also known as Reaching Out, 1966

Portfolio/Series title: published in LIFE magazine, February 19, 1971

Where object was made: Vietnam

Material/technique: dye transfer print

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 39.1 x 59.7 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 15 3/8 x 23 1/2 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 24 x 32 in

Credit line: Museum purchase

Accession number: 1985.0147

Not on display

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Views of Vietnam," Oct-2006, Steve Goddard
Mutter Ridge, Nui Cay Tri, October 5, 1966. Following the taking of Hill 484 in Operation Prairie, Burrows captured an image of Marine Gunnery Sergeant Jeremiah Purdie turning back to help a fellow soldier as he is ushered away to be treated for his own wounds. The brown mud covering the soldier on the ground and much of the scene surely also covered Burrows, who accompanied the Marines during portions of Operation Prairie. On the evening after taking Hill 484, it was abandoned by the U.S. military, although casualties during that week were the highest of the war.

Archive Label:
Larry Burrows, a British photojournalist, was killed in battle in Vietnam in 1971. His photograph reminds us of the extent to which the Vietnam war was centered on the body, and of the extreme viciousness of guerrilla warfare, which aimed less to capture or kill than to maim the bodies of the opposing forces.