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)

An aerial view shows a sinkhole 3.5 km (2 miles) to the east of Solikamsk-2 mine in Perm region, November 20, 2014. Shares in Russia's Uralkali, the world's top potash producer, fell sharply for a second day on Wednesday after a mine accident that could reduce global supplies and push up prices of the crop nutrient worldwide. Uralkali shares have fallen 28 percent since Tuesday when it suspended work at its Solikamsk-2 mine, which accounts for a fifth of the company's output and 3.5 percent of global capacity, following an inflow of water. A sinkhole, stretching 30 by 40 metres (yards), found at an abandoned mine 3.5 km (2 miles) to the east, increased concern about the future of the mine because an inflow of water and the resulting sinkhole in 2006 forced another Uralkali operation to shut permanently. (Photo by Reuters/Press service of Uralkali company)

Life in lockdown: Schoolteacher Marzio Toniolo, 35, takes a picture of his two-year-old daughter Bianca painting his toenails as they while away time at home in San Fiorano, one of the original “red zone” towns in northern Italy that has now been extended to the whole country, as his wife, Bianca's mum Chiara Zuddas looks out from their balcony, March 20, 2020. Toniolo has been documenting how his family has dealt with being under quarantine since it began for them in February. (Photo by Marzio Toniolo via Reuters)

It would have been so much better if the pictures created by Mister Blick were real. How wonderful it would be if these men were actually holding flowers, and none of these wars happened. Regretfully, all these wars have left their mark on the history of mankind. Wars are always bad. They bring nothing but destruction and terror to the regular people, while the big players make huge profits off of the suffering of the common folk. However, establishing dominance is an integral part of the human nature, and the desire to wage wars is simply an extension of this trait. Strong countries always suppress the weaker ones to gain even more power. Unfortunately, this is as inevitable as the sunrise or sunset. (Photo by Mister Blick)

Hu Shaoming is a fantastic artist from China, who has learnt Fine Arts at Guangzhou Academy. The most complex sculpture of all his works is a mechanical seahorse, constructed from many tiny details. The whole composition consists of two complete opposites, including the top part of the seahorse`s head that looks like a golden town, and the bottom which resembles an amazing blue creature. An important problem is reflected in such an idea; it shows how a man forces the nature into submission. The contrast in the opposition of the human buildings and conquered Mother Nature suggests the thought of keeping our natural environment safe.

Using acrylic paint, 19-year old Japanese student and artist Chooo-San has transformed the bodies of herself and a handful of lucky volunteers into ones that appear to be from another planet. Bored with technology, she wanted to see how far she could go with creating eye-catching illusions in the real world, rather than relying on programs like Photoshop.

SEE ALSO: «A frightening-realistic Body Art by Chooo-San»

Andrew Ling's inspiring photographs showcase the splendor of the natural world, using people to highlight the beauty and scale of these epic landscapes. Each image features a person photographed from hundreds of feet away, seemingly insignificant in comparison to the breathtaking landscape that surrounds them – whether beneath gushing waterfalls, under millions of glittering stars or atop of gigantic cliffs. Andrew, 22, said, “I hope these images will help remind people how beautiful the world we live in is”. Here: Second Beach, La Push, Washington, March, 2015. (Photo by Andrew Ling/Caters News)