Alan Swinney points a gun during clashes between groups like Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer, and protesters against police brutality and racial injustice in Portland, Oregon, U.S., August 22, 2020. (Photo by Maranie Staab/Reuters)

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)

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Taron Egerton as Elton John in a scene from “Rocketman”. (Photo by David Appleby/Paramount Pictures via AP Photo)

Humanoid robots perform at the World Robot Conference 2023 in Beijing, capital of China on August 16, 2023. The World Robot Conference 2023 opened here Wednesday, showcasing cutting-edge achievements and the latest robot industry exhibits. (Photo by Wang Yuguo/Xinhua/Alamy Live News)

Cast member, American actress Sydney Sweeney attends the premiere of Neon's “Immaculate” during Beyond Fest at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on March 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Boys pose with their toy guns as others play on swings, on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, in the government-controlled district of Dwelaa in Damascus, Syria July 6, 2016. (Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

A guide dangles a live chicken in front of a crocodile in the village of Bazoule, Burkina Faso, December 4, 2015. The villagers believe the crocodiles that live there are sacred. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)

“Aurora over a glacier lagoon”. A vivid green overheaded aurrora pictured in Iceland's Vatnajokull National Park reflected almost symetrically in Jokulsrlon Glacier lagoon. A complete lack of wind and currrent combin in this sheltred lagoon scene to crete an arresting mirror effect giving the image a sensation of utter stillness. Despite theis there is motion on a suprising scale, as the loops and arcs of the aurora are shaped by the shifting forces of the Earth's magnetic field. James Woodend of Great Britain won the grand prize with the image, beating out more than 2,500 other entries. The Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014 contest is judged by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and BBC Sky at Night magazine. (Photo by James Woodend/The Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014 Contest)