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)

Fans in Star Wars costumes attend the world premiere of Disney's “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California on December 16, 2019. (Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP Photo)

American singer-songwriter Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, known professionally as Halsey is seen in Midtown on October 07, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)

American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo wishes her famous bestie, actor Iris Apatow, a happy birthday on October 12, 2021. (Photo by Instagram)

Actors Alexandra Shipp and Vanessa Hudgens attend a premiere screening for “Tick, Tick . Boom” during the opening night of AFI Fest at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 10, 2021. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

American actress Rachel Zegler and Panamanian actress Ilda Mason arrive at the 2021 American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 21, 2021. (Photo by Aude Guerrucci/Reuters)

American singer-songwriter Madonna poses for a sеxed up snap with her daughter Lourdes Leon in December 2021. (Photo by madona/Instagram)