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)

Australian surfer Sally Fitzgibbons rides a wave during the 2023 ISA World Surfing Games at the El Tunco beach in El Salvador on June 6, 2023. (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP Photo)

A new book published by the UK Natural History Museum showcases some of the most memorable underwater photographs taken over the last few decades in its annual wildlife photographer of the year competition. Here: Giant gathering by Tony Wu. “The first indication that something extraordinary was going on were the blows, huge numbers of them – the exhalations of huge numbers of whales. Entering the water, the photographer witnessed an extraordinary scene”. (Photo by Tony Wu/Unforgettable Underwater Photography/NHM)

A pair of foxes seem happy to see each other in Zandvoort, the Netherlands in the last decade of September 2024. (Photo by Anna Stelloo/Solent News)

Karis, an eleven week old lion cub, plays in fallen leaves brushed up by keepers in her enclosure at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling, Scotland, on November 20, 2013. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

A man jumps over a puddle outside Victoria Station, as heavy rain falls, in London, Monday June 20, 2016. Monday marks the Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year and the astronomical change of seasons when days are longest and nights are shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. (Photo by Lauren Hurley/PA Wire via AP Photo)

A dead fish lies on the bank of Oder River on the German-Polish border, in Brieskow-Finkenheerd, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, August 11, 2022. Authorities are looking into the cause of the mysterious fish deaths. (Photo by Annegret Hilse/Reuters)

Aerial photo shows people enjoying the blooming plum blossoms in Zhuyuwan scenic spot in Yangzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province on February 23, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)