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)

Crowds look on as the super moon rises behind the Fremantle War Memorial at Monument Hill on November 14, 2016 in Fremantle, Australia. A super moon occurs when a full moon passes closes to earth than usual, with the November 14th moon expected to be closer than it has been in over 70 years. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Police react to a suspicious vehicle near La Carillon restaurant following a series of deadly attacks in Paris, November 15, 2015. Thousands of French troops deployed around Paris on Sunday and tourist sites stood shuttered in one of the most visited cities on Earth while investigators questioned the relatives of a suspected suicide bomber involved in the country's deadliest violence since World War II. (Photo by Pascal Rossignol/Reuters)

Filipino beauty candidates hide from the sun before a group photo during the media presentation of the Miss Philippines Earth 2017 held at a hotel in Manila, Philippines, 05 July 2017. A total of 40 environmentally aware and concerned Filipino young ladies will compete to represent the Philippines at the Miss Earth beauty pageant. Miss Earth is a pioneering beauty pageant that serves as a vehicle for environmental advocacy. (Photo by Mark R. Cristino/EPA)

The tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation Carina. (Photo by Reuters/NASA)

A fledgling solar system containing deep within it enough water vapor to fill all the oceans on Earth five times, located in our Milky Way galaxy about 1,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Perseus. (Photo by Reuters/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Miss Earth 2016 candidates wearing environmental statement sashes lineup during a press presentation in Manila, Philippines, 11 October 2016. Eighty three young women from around the globe converged in Manila for the international beauty event. Miss Earth is a pioneering beauty pageant that serves as a vehicle for environmental advocacy. (Photo by Mark R. Cristino/EPA)