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 photograph taken on April 16, 2014, a veterinary staff member of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme center conducts medical examinations on a 14-year-old male orangutan found with air gun metal pellets embedded in his body in Sibolangit district in northern Sumatra island. (Photo by Sutanta Aditya/AFP Photo)

Workers clean empty cooking oil containers at a roadside recycling workshop in Kolkata, India, July 13, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Recycling artist Nicolas Gomez checks the strings of a cello he has made out of an oil barrel for the Orchestra of Recycled Instruments of Cateura, in Cateura, Paraguay February 13, 2015. Saudi Arabia's oil exports have risen in February in response to stronger demand from customers. As OPEC's top producer battles for market share Reuters photographers around the globe have been photographing oil barrels to document how they are utilised once the fuel has been used. (Photo by Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

A mine worker is seen outside “The Progreso” gold mine near La Paz, November 13, 2014. According to local media, the president of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) Marcelo Zabalaga said on Thursday that the falling price of oil and minerals in the international market will not affect the national economy. (Photo by David Mercado/Reuters)

Dutch artists Lernert and Sander cut raw food into 98 perfect 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm cubes, creating a tantalizing geometric display. This viral photo was commissioned by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant for their their food-themed documentary photography special.

A woman taking a nap on mangoes at city market area after the city eased the lockdown in Bangalore, India 12 July 2021. The Karnataka government eases in covid-19 related lockdown restrictions in the wake of lower coronavirus cases and positivity rate falling below 5% percent. The Karnataka state government administering record 2.5-crore doses till date since the vaccination drive was launched across the state on January 16, Karnataka ranked first in South India in inoculating maximum number of its eligible population, said state Health Minister K. Sudhakar. (Photo by Jagadeesh N.V./EPA/EFE)

An Iranian woman gestures as she celebrates in the streets following a nuclear deal with major powers, in Tehran July 14, 2015. Overcoming decades of hostility, Iran, the United States, and five other world powers struck a historic accord Tuesday to check Tehran's nuclear efforts short of building a bomb. The agreement could give Iran access to billions in frozen assets and oil revenue, stave off more U.S. military action in the Middle East and reshape the tumultuous region. (Photo by Reuters/TIMA)