Sergeant Burke was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy near DT 231-439, North Korea on 20 August 1952. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Burke was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.