A member of the Grupa Magnifica acrobatics club poses for a photo on the Baltic Sea beach during sunset in the town of Leba, Pomeranian region, on August 6, 2024. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/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)

Revellers kiss under a rainbow flag during the Gay Pride parade along Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil on June 3, 2018. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Hotel staff practice self-defence skills after a training session given by team member of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 7, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A man watches as high surf crashes into the wall and spills onto Channel Drive in Montecito, Calif., January 7, 2016. Bacteria levels can increase significantly during and after rainstorms as contaminants in the runoff enter the ocean via storm drains, creeks and rivers. (Photo by Mike Eliason/AP Photo)

A participant poses with his laptop during the 33rd Chaos Communication Congress on its opening day on December 27, 2016 in Hamburg, Germany. The annual event is bringing together 12,000 computer hackers and activists who will meet over the next four days to share expertise and discuss topics related to the society and the digital world. (Photo by Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images)

A member of the pro-government “red shirt” movement attacks a Buddhist monk outside the National Anti-Corruption Commission office in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok March 24, 2014. Members of the movement attacked the monk after he shouted complaints to the group blocking a road near the National Anti-Corruption Commission. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

People take cover outside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport after a shooting took place near the baggage claim on January 6, 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Officials are reporting that five people were killed and 8 wounded in an attack by a single gunman. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)