A man flies a dragon-shaped kite at a square on March 31, 2006 in Changchun of Jilin Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A skydiver dressed as Santa Claus prepares to leap out of a plane as 155 tandem skydivers set a new Guinness World Record over eight hours, over the Australian city of Wollongong, December 17, 2016. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

From London to New York! These action shots show talented athletes practising yoga poses in iconic city locations. The amazing snaps were taken by photographer Kristina Kashtanova at urban street locations in the UK and New York. The talented yogis are seen striking mind-boggling poses in the most unusual settings. Here: Yoga head stand, Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Kristina Kashtanova/Caters News)

Bulls fight during the Maghesangranti festival at Talukachandani village in Nuwakot district near Kathmandu, Nepal January 15, 2016. The village organizes the bullfight during the Maghesangranti festival that commemorates the start of the holy month of Magh, ushering in the coming of warmer weather and longer days. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Stacked stones are pictured during the European Stone Stacking Championships 2018 in Dunbar, Scotland, on April 22, 2018. The European Stone Stacking Championships are Europe’s largest championships for all Stone Stacking and Rock Balancing artists and practitioners. The overall winner of the European Stone Stacking Championship will receive financial support for flights to the World Stone Balance Championship in Llano, Texas the following year. (Photo by Andy Buchanan/AFP Photo)

People celebrate the start of the New Year as fireworks illuminate Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Monday, January 1, 2024. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Swimmers in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool suspended 35 meters above ground between two apartment buildings, during hot weather in Nine Elms, central London on Monday, August 12, 2024. (Photo by James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images)

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)