A child holds a gun at the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., April 15, 2023. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

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)

People throw turnips at the Jarramplas as he comes out from the church beating his drum during the Jarramplas Festival on January 20, 2016 in Piornal, Caceres province, Spain. The centuries old Jarramplas festival takes place annually every January 19-20 on Saint Sebastian Day and this year they expect to use more than 20 thousand kilogrames of turnips. Even though the exact origins of the festival are not known, various theories exist including the mythological punishment of Caco by Hercules, a relation to ceremonies celebrated by the American Indians that were seen by the first conquerors, to a cattle thief ridiculed and expelled by his village neighbours. It is generally believed to symbolize the expulsion of everything bad. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

Stray dogs run at dog sanctuary Territorio de Zaguates or “Land of the Strays” in Carrizal de Alajuela, Costa Rica, April 20, 2016. In a lush, sprawling corner of Costa Rica, hundreds of dogs roam freely on a hillside – among the luckiest strays on earth. Fed, groomed and cared for by vets, more than 750 dogs rescued from the streets of Costa Rica inhabit Territorio de Zaguates or “Land of the Strays”, a pooch paradise. (Photo by Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

A man recieves a massage from a topless woman wearing a foxtail during the 61st annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally August 7, 2001 in Sturgis, SD. Nudity is not permitted by the police, but airbrushing a woman''s nipples is sufficient to remain legal in the small town of 6,000. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Participants pose for photographs as they take part in a “Hat Walk” during London Hat Week in London, Britain on April 7, 2019. (Photo by Simon Dawson/Reuters)

Convicted murderer Hector Alvarado Mazariegos, right, drops to the ground as he is hit by bullets of a Guatemala firing squad in the public cemetery at Mazatenango, June 28, 1975. His companion, Rocael Ortiz, met the same fate a few seconds later. Both were convicted of murder. (Photo by AP Photo/Anzueto)

Britain’s Kate, Princess of Wales, center, smiles as she wears an inflatable life vest during a visit at the Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton, near Yeovil in Somerset, England, Monday, September 18, 2023. The Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton is one of the Royal Navy's two principal air stations and one of the busiest military airfields in the UK. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Wire via AP Photo)