People look at the lava flowing on Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland on Wednesday August 3, 2022, which is located 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of the capital of Reykjavik and close to the international Keflavik Airport. Authorities in Iceland say the volcano in the southwest of the country is erupting just eight months after its last eruption officially ended. (Photo by Marco Di Marco/AP Photo)

American media personality and socialite Kim Kardashian poses at GQ's Men of the Year Party at Bar Marmont, Thursday, November 16, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP 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)

“Super Enerji”. Taken on my road trip through Turkey. (Photo and caption by Michelle Brandemuehl/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Katie Austin (L) and Denise Austin attend the 2019 ESPY Awards at Microsoft Theater on July 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo accepts the Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Album for “Sour” during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards show in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., April 3, 2022. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

A worker loads palm fruit at a palm oil plantation in North Mamuju regency, West Sulawesi province, Indonesia March 10, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Sahrul Manda Tikupadang/Reuters/Antara Foto)

A model poses during the fashion show on May 23, 2019 during the amfAR 26th Annual Cinema Against AIDS gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, on the sidelines of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)