Armed female members of the militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad carry Kalashnikov assault rifles as they take part in a rally to protest against US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Gaza City on December 11, 2017. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

Filipino villagers escape to a safe area as the Mayon Volcano erupts anew in the town of Daraga, Albay province, Philippines, 23 January 2018. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) agency on 22 January raised the alert level for the Mayon Volcano amid fears of a bigger eruption over the next few hours or days. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)

A woman villager cleans garbage in front of her house as flood hits Tanjungsari village in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia, February 23, 2018. (Photo by Adeng Bustomi/Reuters/Antara Foto)

A Chinese stripper dances during a funeral in Handan city, Hebei province, China on March 2015. The Chinese Ministry of Culture has announced plans to work closely with the police to eliminate risqué performances, including strippers, at funeral. The aim of such entertainment is to draw more mourners to the ceremony. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An opposition fighter from the Failaq al-Rahman brigade fires a heavy machine gun in Jobar, a rebel-held district on the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, on March 19, 2017. (Photo by Amer Almohibany/AFP Photo)

A demonstrator catches fire after the gas tank of a police motorbike exploded during clashes in a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on May 3, 2017. Venezuela' s angry opposition rallied Wednesday vowing huge street protests against President Nicolas Maduro' s plan to rewrite the constitution and accusing him of dodging elections to cling to power despite deadly unrest. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP Photo)

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)

Genko Stoykov fires a rifle as he and other men prepare for the traditional “Horo” dance on Epiphany Day in the icy winter waters of the Tundzha river on January 6, 2022 in Kalofer, Bulgaria. As part of the tradition, a priest throws a cross in the river and it is believed that the one who retrieves it will be healthy throughout the year. Today, cultures throughout Christendom mark the Feast of the Epiphany, when Jesus was revealed to the Magi as God incarnate. (Photo by Hristo Rusev/Getty Images)