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)

Two three-month-old female white Bengal tiger cubs play with a zoo keeper in their enclosure at the Buenos Aires' Zoo, in Argentina, on April 17, 2014. Captive white Bengal tiger Cloe, gave birth to three cubs – two females and one male – on January 14, 2014. (Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP Photo)

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)

Swedish photographer Paul Hansen won the 2012 World Press Photo award Friday for newspaper Dagens Nyheter with a picture of two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli missile strike being carried to their funeral.

Photo: In this photo provided on Friday February 15, 2013 by World Press Photo, the 2013 World Press Photo of the year by Paul Hansen, Sweden, for Dagens Nyheter, shows two-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and her three-year-old brother Muhammad who were killed when their house was destroyed by an Israeli missile strike. Their father, Fouad, was also killed and their mother was put in intensive care. Fouad's brothers carry his children to the mosque for the burial ceremony as his body is carried behind on a stretcher in Gaza City, Palestinian Territories, November 20, 2012. (Photo by Paul Hansen/Dagens Nyheter/AP Photo)

Opposition supporters march in the streets during a demonstration against the Ivorian President running for a third term in the next presidential elections, in Bonoua, Ivory Coast, 21 August 2020. The Ivorian opposition opposes a third term for incumbent president Ouattara who has been in power for ten years. The presidential elections will be held in October 2020. (Photo by Legnan Koula/EPA/EFE)

Burlesque performer Tallulah Talons dances in the “Pandemic Burlesque” show presented by Tallulah Talons at Club Cumming on March 18, 2021 in New York City. Like many other New York City nightlife venues, the club was shuttered in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it continued to host cabaret and comedy shows via live stream for most of the year. The venue reintroduced on-site outdoor events in late December 2020. (Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP Photo)

Dutch supermodel Bregje Heinen sets pulses racing as she models for lingerie brand Frederick's of Hollywood on February 18, 2020. The 26-year-old beauty, a former Victoria's Secret model, strips off in a launderette as she showcases the company's spring 2020 collection. (Photo by Frederick's of Hollywood/The Mega Agency)

A man takes a picture of the mural painted by the street artist Harry Greb depicting the Italian music composer Ennio Morricone, a day after the 91-year-old composer's death, on July 7, 2020 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)