Members of the American Civil War Society take part in a mock battle in the grounds of Cusworth Hall, South Yorkshire on July 2, 2011 in Doncaster, United Kingdom. Enthusiasts from all walks of life are taking part in re-enacting scenes from the American Civil War and in 'living history' events which are as authentic as possible. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Characters from Star Wars pose for a photocall to promote the release of Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace 3D at The London Eye on February 8, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images)

“Eyes Wide Open is an exhibit created by the American Friends Service Committee observing the American soldiers and marines that have died in the Iraq War. It contains a pair of combat boots to represent every American soldier and marine that has died in the war, as well as shoes representing Iraqi civilians who have lost their lives during the invasion and occupation”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A man pauses as he looks at rows of combat boots that are part of the "Eyes Wide Open" exhibit in front of San Francisco City Hall on March 19, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The Eyes Wide Open exhibition includes a pair of boots for every one of the 481 California servicemen and women who died in the Iraq war. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Ratko Mladic makes his first appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal on June 3, 2011 in The Hague, Netherlands. Ex-Bosnian Serb army leader Ratko Mladic will make his first appearance at The Hague war crimes tribunal after being declared fit to stand trial. Mladic was arrested a week ago after going into hiding for the past 16 years and is charged with atrocities committed during the Bosnian war. (Photo Serge Ligtenberg/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)

In this Tuesday, July 29, 2014, photo, Syrian refugee Samah, 5, poses for a picture at Zaatari refugee camp, near the Syrian border, in Mafraq, Jordan. More than 2.8 million Syrian children inside and outside the country – nearly half the school-aged population – cannot get an education because of the devastation from the civil war, according to the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF. That number is likely higher, as UNICEF can't count the children whose parents didn't register with the United Nations refugee agency. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

Students pose for a picture with a 3- D optical illusion artwork of a devastated cityscape in Aleppo, Syria at the campus of the Meiji University in Tokyo on November 18, 2016. The Japanese branch of the human rights organisation Amnesty International displayed the artwork to encourage people to think about the Syrian civil war. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP Photo)

People carry drinks at 80s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016. In Damascus's Old City, just a mile from the battered frontline between government and rebel-held territory, young Syrians smoke, drink beer or soft drinks, and talk about anything but the war. The revival of activity in this once-vibrant quarter is part of efforts to project an air of normality in the Syrian capital, even as the five-year-old war that has killed more than 250,000 people and created 5 million refugees continues to rage nearby. (Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)