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 dog rides a wave during the Surf City Surf Dog competition in Huntington Beach, California, U.S., September 25, 2016. The dogs compete in contest categories ranging from small to extra large, to two dogs on a board, as well as owner and dog. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

A surfer falls from their board a day after Tropical Storm Hilary swept through the area with large waves hitting south-facing beaches in Huntington Beach, California, on August 21, 2023. Tropical Storm Hilary drenched Southern California with record rainfall, shutting down schools, roads and businesses before edging in on Nevada on August 21, 2023. California Governor Gavin Newsom had declared a state of emergency over much of the typically dry area, where flash flood warnings remained in effect until this morning. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

In this January 11, 2018 photo, a skater jumps a ramp during the inauguration of a new recreational space for skateboarders, created in an abandoned gym at the Educational complex Ciudad Libertad, a former military barracks that the late Fidel Castro turned into a school complex after the revolution in Havana, Cuba. Foreign skateboard enthusiasts supply their Cuban counterparts with boards and other equipment. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

A dog catches a wave during the Surf City Surf Dog Contest in Huntington Beach, California September 27, 2015. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley stunned fans in this silk dress in the last decade of March 2024. (Photo by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley/Instagram)

Actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley arrives at the LACMA Art + Gala at LACMA on October 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)

A dog surfs at the 6th Annual Surf City surf dog contest in Huntington Beach, California September 28, 2014. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)