[3] His memoir and story was adapted into the similarly titled 1932 Oscar-nominated film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, which received nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor for star Paul Muni.

[4] Two days after the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a combat medic.

[citation needed] Upon his return from Europe, he suffered deeply from what his brother, Vincent Burns, deemed "a typical shell-shock case".

[4] His deteriorating psychological condition, coupled with his inability to recover his pre-war job, or the wages he was earning, caused Burns to become a drifter again.

As a member of Georgia's convict lease system, Burns was forced to complete back-breaking labor for the profit of the state.

Burns escaped from the chain gang with the help of another inmate, who struck his restraints with a sledgehammer, bending and weakening them.

In January 1932, a cinematic version of Burns's memoir was released by Warner Bros. under the slightly altered title, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, starring Paul Muni.

The success of the movie led Burns to make more frequent public appearances condemning the use of chain gangs in the South.

But, the governor of New Jersey refused to extradite him to Georgia, since his book and a movie had been released and public opinion was firmly against the idea.

[6] In 1943, Burns met newly elected Georgia governor Ellis Arnall in New York and requested a pardon.

Burns's book and subsequent movie are largely credited with the abolition of the chain gang system in the South.