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)

“Artist of the light”. While shooting sunrise in the Vermilion lakes area of Banff national park, Canada, I met a fellow photographer on the scene. Most of the time, we tried not to get in each other's way, however, just by accident, I snapped a picture with him in it working on his tripod settings, and it turned out to be a great photo compared to my sunrise shots. (Photo and caption by Victor Liu/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.

A woman smokes marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 20, 2017. (Photo by Chris Wattie/Reuters)

Actress Kerry Washington, Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' Woman of the Year, throws wine in the face of an actor playing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Thursday, January 28, 2016, as she is roasted in Cambridge, Mass. (Photo by Elise Amendola/AP Photo)

Ja Kang Song, 71, and Ja Hyun Su, 72, dive for shellfish and are the main breadwinners for their families. In South Korea, 45% of the diving women of Jeju are over the age of 70. Routinely diving to depths of 20m and staying under for an average of two to three minutes, the pressure on the body takes its toll and, like many others, burst eardrums have left Ja Hyun Su deaf. Each season, between seven and 10 women die diving the waters around Jeju Island. (Photo by Andy W. Langton/Age International)

Young revelers take part in a parade called "La Calabiuza" on November 1, 2015, on the eve of the Day of the Dead in Tonacatepeque, 20 kms (13 miles) north of San Salvador. During the celebration, the residents of Tonacatepeque, originally an indigenous community, recall the characters from the mythology of Cuscatlan – pre-Columbian west and central regions of El Salvador – and their dead relatives. (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP Photo)

A Pakistani farmer guides his bulls as he competes in a traditional bull race in Khunda village in the northwestern district of Attock, some 80 kilometers from Islamabad on January 3, 2015. Tens of thousands of people gather whenever there is a bull race held in Pakistan which are usually the highlight of festivals organized in rural areas of the Asian country, and attract lots of spectators due to their thrilling nature. The traditional competition attracts landlords and farmers from all around the province where the race is held, and they all bring their fastest and strongest bulls in hopes of gaining a reputation. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)

Two three-month-old female white Bengal tiger cubs play with a zoo keeper in their enclosure at the Buenos Aires' Zoo, in Argentina, on April 17, 2014. Captive white Bengal tiger Cloe, gave birth to three cubs – two females and one male – on January 14, 2014. (Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP Photo)