Australian Motorcross rider and member of the Crusty Demons, Robbie Marshall jumps over a helicopter with rotating blades and a Formula 1 car at Avalon Airport on February 22, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Actress Anna Valle attends the Roberto Cavalli Autumn/Winter 2012/2013 fashion show as part of Milan Womenswear Fashion Week on February 27, 2012 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

Commander, a German Shepherd adult (L) and Ziva, a German Shepherd puppy attend as American Kennel Club announces Most Popular Dogs in the U.S. at American Kennel Club Offices on February 28, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for AKC)

Visitors and tourists walk around the ancient monument at Stonehenge on March 2 2012 in Wiltshire, England. The English Heritage, managed prehistoric UNESCO World Heritage site, believed to have been constructed in 3000BC, has always been a “must see” attraction for visitors to the UK and it is hoped that it will remain so for visitors to the London 2012 Olympic Games this summer. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Crowd members attempt to keep dry with umbrellas and ponchos prior to the 2012 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on March 3, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Military staff members of the German Bundeswehr check an Eurocopter Tiger military attack helicopter at the Eurocopter plant on March 8, 2012 in Donauworth, Germany. EADS, the parent company of Eurocopter as well as airplane manufacturer Airbus, is scheduled to announce financial results for 2011 today. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

The first jaguar litter since 1975 was born at the Milwaukee County Zoo to Stella and Pat on November 13, 2013. The litter was on public display for the first time on March 13 when the jaguar baby's names were released. Belize schoolchildren named one Zean, which is the end of Belizean, and a public contest named the other B'alam, which means "great and powerful king" in Mayan. Photo: Stella the mother and her cub Zean rest together at The Milwaukee County Zoo. (Photo by Rick Wood)

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)