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)

A dog accompanies models who present creations by Indian designer Manish Arora as part of his Fall/Winter 2016/2017 women's ready-to-wear collection in Paris, France, March 3, 2016. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

A girl gets her hands decorated with traditional henna patterns at a roadside stall ahead of Eid-al Fitr to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi, Pakistan, July 17, 2015. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

Doutzen Kroes and Candice Swanpoel arrive at the Mert Alas x Marcus Piggot book launch party at Public Hotelon September 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Pierre Suu/GC Images)

English fashion model Daisy Lowe seen at LFW s/s 2018: Off-White x Mytheresa.com – intimate dinner at St John Bar & Restaurant during London Fashion Week September 2017 on September 17, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by MagicMoments UK)

Rita Ora is seen filming her music video “Anywhere” in the Meat Packing District on October 5, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)