People walk passed sculptures by Chinese artist Minjun Yue on a street outside a museum in Beijing, China on July 5, 2018. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

A model takes part in an exhibition, a part of Lingerie Show-Forum 2016 international lingerie, swimwear, homewear and hosiery trade show in Moscow, Russia, February 26, 2016. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

A Thai visitor appears to be frightened by a life-size Velociraptor model also known as Raptor at the Dinosaur Planet theme park in Bangkok, Thailand, 25 March 2016. The 500 million baht (14 million US dollars or 12 million euro) theme park opening in the Thai capital aimed to attract more than 15,000 visitors a day featuring a chance to experience more than 200 dinosaurs from various species that are brought back to life. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

Germany's Angelique Kerber reacts after popping a bottle of champagne, a day following her win in the final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament, at the Government House in Melbourne, Australia, January 31, 2016. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

Two carnival revellers masquerade as Leonardo da Vinci's painting “Mona Lisa” pose in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, Sunday, January 31, 2016. Carnival-goers in Venice are being asked by police to momentarily lift their masks as part of new anti-terrorism measures for the annual festivities. (Photo by Domenico Stinellis/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)

Drummers perform during rehearsals at the Bird's Nest National Stadium ahead of the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Beijing on August 20, 2015. The Athletics World Championships will be held at the stadium from August 22 to 30. (Photo by Greg Baker/AFP Photo)

A Donald Trump impersonator with a bikini clad model stops at a hot dog vendor near Trump Tower on October 25, 2016 in New York, as part of a performance art piece by British artist Alison Jackson. The event is to promote Jackson's new show, “Private”, in New York, which features staged photographs portraying the private lives of public individuals. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)