Kuwaitis play in front of kites at for Kuwaiti al-Farsi Kites team, Kuwaiti desert, 50 kilometers south of Kuwait City, 06 January 2017 (Issued 07 January 2017). (Photo by Raed Qutena/EPA)

Yana Shcherban of Russia looks at the ball after failing to receive it during their FIVB Women's Volleyball World Grand Prix 2014 final round against Japan in Tokyo August 20, 2014. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

In this photo taken on August 26, 2017, a contestant of the “fantasy” category prepares to be judged during the Daegu International Bodypainting Festival in Daegu, South Korea. The bodies of dozens of female models turned into living canvases this weekend as they allowed delicate brush strokes and flamboyant illustrations to cover up their bare skin. They are part of the 2017 Daegu International Bodypainting Festival along with top artists from 10 countries that runs until August 27 in South Korea's southeastern city of Daegu. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

Competitors take part in the 8th annual World Gravy Wrestling Championships at the Rose n Bowl Pub in Bacup, north west England on August 31, 2015. Contestants must participate in fancy dress and wrestle in a pool of Lancashire Gravy for 2 minutes whilst being scored for a variety of wrestling moves. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP Photo)

A picture made available in 01 July 2016 shows a 16-meter-long and 6.5-meter-high model of a Spinosaurus installed by employees of the dinosaur park in Muenchenhagen in the region of Hannover, Germany, 28 June 2016. The model is considered the only replica of this dinosaur species worldwide. The outdoor museum at Lake Steinhude shows more than 230 true-to-scale replica of dinosaurs. (Photo by Holger Hollemann/EPA)

It’s enough to make your head spin. The photographer Katherine Young set out to shoot spiral staircases in London, England to great effect, including this shot she calls the Downward Spiral Part III. (Photo by Katherine Young/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A trainer tries to convince a dog to jump over an obstacle during the Dog Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, September 18, 2016. Owner of the dog park and organizer of the animal event Marco Antonio Toto says his goal is to socialize humans and their pets while celebrating sports. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

In the spring of 1965, within weeks of 3,500 American Marines arriving in Vietnam, a 39-year-old Briton named Larry Burrows began work on a feature for LIFE magazine, chronicling the day-to-day experience of U.S. troops on the ground – and in the air – in the midst of the rapidly widening war. The photographs in this gallery focus on a calamitous March 31, 1965, helicopter mission; Burrows’ “report from Da Nang”, featuring his pictures and his personal account of the harrowing operation, was published two weeks later as a now-famous cover story in the April 16, 1965, issue of LIFE.

Photo: Man your battle stations: The crew chief of helicopter Yankee Papa 13, lance corporal James C. Farley, mans an M-60 machine gun during a mission near Da Nang, Vietnam on March 31, 1965. (Photo by Larry Burrows/Time & Life Pictures)