The Empire State Building towers over the Manhattan skyline as tourists gather on the observation deck of Rockefeller Center on February 13, 2012 in New York City. The owner of the Empire State Building, Malkin Holdings, plans to raise up to $1 billion in an initial public offering on the 102 story Manhattan landmark. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Whole cooked alligators are displayed before being served at the 110th Explorers Club Annual Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York March 15, 2014. The club, which promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space featured catering by chef and exotic creator Gene Rurka. Chef Rurka prepared a variety of dishes featuring an array of insects, wildlife, animal body parts and invasive species. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

General Atmosphere at 2014 New York Comic Con – Day 3 at Jacob Javitz Center on October 11, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images)

The “Naked Cowboy” plays his guitar in Times Square on March 23, 2012 in New York City. A recent study found that the Times Square district contributes up to 10% of all jobs in the city and is responsible for approximately 11% of economic activity. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

A model presents a creation by British designer Christian Cowan at New York Fashion Week Spring 2019 in New York, New York, USA, 08 September 2018. The Spring 2019 collections are presented from 06 to 14 September. (Photo by Alba Vigaray/EPA/EFE)

A dog dressed as UPS worker is seen during the 28th Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade at East River Park Amphitheater in New York on October 28, 2018. (Photo by Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)

A model presents a creation from the Blonds Fall 2020 collection during New York Fashion Week in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., February 9, 2020. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/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)