Members of the “Exit Point” amateur rope-jumping group jump from a 44-metre high (144-ft) waterpipe bridge in the Siberian Taiga area outside Krasnoyarsk, September 13, 2015. Rope-jumping, an extreme sport, involves jumping from a high point using an advanced leverage system combining mountaineering and rope safety equipment. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/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)

Marchers kiss as they walk down 5th Avenue as they part in the 2019 World Pride NYC and Stonewall 50th LGBTQ Pride Parade in New York, U.S., June 30, 2019. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

A general view of Copacabana beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 22, 2020. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

Members of the U.S. Army's Golden Knights parachute team perform during the Bethpage Air Show as part of a Memorial Day event at Jones Beach on Long Island, New York, U.S., May 25, 2019. (Photo by Johnny Milano/Reuters)

Two sculputures at the waterfront in Marseille – Ever feel like youve forgotten something? No its not a mind trick – these are the amazing photos of sculptures done by a French artist. The sculptures are the work of Bruno Catalano and might look like theyre missing vital organs but the invisible bodies represent a world citizen according to their creator. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

A bride gets her make-up done before the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kolkata, India, February 14, 2016. A total of 150 tribal Hindu, Muslim and Christian couples from various villages across the state took their wedding vows on Sunday during the day-long mass marriage ceremony organised by a social organisation, the organisers said. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A woman adjusts the mirror of a retro tram KTM-1 (1948-1950) during the street exhibition “Retro Tram Parade” as part of marking the 125th anniversary of the city tramway service in Moscow, Russia on 13 July 2024. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA/EFE)