A street performer jumps in the air inside Central Park as the colors of autumn become more prevalent in New York, October 29, 2015. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

A girl swims in floodwaters in Malaysia' s northeastern town of Rantau Panjang, which borders Thailand, on January 5, 2017 Floods in two northeast Malaysian states have now forced almost 23,000 people from their homes and extra relief centres have been opened, rescue officials said on January 4. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

Dancers perform on their way to attend a rally with former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, “Lula”, supporting President Dilma Rousseff in the historic Lapa neighborhood on April 11, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil's congressional impeachment committee approved the motion to proceed with President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment process today. A full vote by the lower house of Congress on the impeachment is scheduled for Sunday to decide whether she will face trial. (Photo by Mario Tama/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)

An Indian artist gives the finishing touches to a figure of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha at a workshop ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in New Delhi on September 15, 2015. The idol is meant for the forthcoming festival Ganesha Chaturthi, a ten-day long event which is celebrated all over India. During the Ganpati festival, that is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, idols of the Hindu deity are worshipped at hundreds of pandals or makeshift tents before they are immersed into water bodies. This year, the festival starts on 17 September 2015. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)

A jogger runs along Bregagh Road at Dark Hedges, Armoy, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Road markings have been painted by mistake on the world famous road that features the Dark Hedges tree lined road which was made famous by the Game of Thrones and is now a massive tourist attraction. (Photo by Peter Morrison/AP Photo)

Model Georgia Salpa attends the UK Premiere of “A Good Day To Die Hard” at Empire Leicester Square on February 7, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by UK Press)

Ranger trainees and trainee dogs simulate an ambush against rhino poachers at the Paramount Group Anti-Poaching training and K9 (canine) academy on November 26, 2014 in Magaliesberg, South Africa. One of the largest of its kind in Africa, the Academy will address the ever increasing need for training of Conservation Officers in anti poaching activities, wildlife contraband detection, specialist K9 solutions and Ranger K9 handler training – all of which have proven success rates in combatting and apprehending poachers and their activities. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP Photo)