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)

A Palestinian protester uses a sling shot to throw stones towards Israeli security forces during clashes on the Israeli border Eastern Gaza City, Friday, November 6, 2015. (Photo by Adel Hana/AP Photo)

A visitor looks at a sculpture by a Chinese artist Chen Wenling at the "Sculpture by the Sea" exhibition which runs along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk in Sydney on October 22, 2015. The world's largest annual free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition runs from October 22 – November 8 this year and features over 107 sculptures by artists around the world. (Photo by Saeed Khan/AFP Photo)

An explosion at a petrochemical plant is seen in Rizhao, Shandong province, July 16, 2015. According to Xinhua News Agency, a fire broke out after the explosion, which was caused by a liquified hydrocarbon leak at the plant, on Thursday morning. There was no report of casualties yet. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Andrew Ling's inspiring photographs showcase the splendor of the natural world, using people to highlight the beauty and scale of these epic landscapes. Each image features a person photographed from hundreds of feet away, seemingly insignificant in comparison to the breathtaking landscape that surrounds them – whether beneath gushing waterfalls, under millions of glittering stars or atop of gigantic cliffs. Andrew, 22, said, “I hope these images will help remind people how beautiful the world we live in is”. Here: Second Beach, La Push, Washington, March, 2015. (Photo by Andrew Ling/Caters News)

Muslim children play sack race during Eid-al-Fitr celebration in Taguig city, south of Manila July 18, 2015. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

Northern lights (Aurora borealis) glow brightly over an Inupiaq fish camp along the arctic coast in North Slope, Alaska. (Photo by Steven Kazlowski/Barcroft Media)

Children walk behind their Morrocoye, a terrestrial tortoise native to South America, before a tortoise race held to celebrate the upcoming feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, in the town of San Francisco de Asis, Venezuela, on October 3, 2025. (Photo by /Juan Carlos Hernandez/Reuters)