A supercell thunderstorm develops, May 8, 2017 in Elbert County outside of Limon, Colorado. With funding from the National Science Foundation and other government grants, scientists and meteorologists from the Center for Severe Weather Research try to get close to supercell storms and tornadoes trying to better understand tornado structure and strength, how low-level winds affect and damage buildings, and to learn more about tornado formation and prediction. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

American actress and singer Zendaya attends the World Premiere of “Dune: Part Two” in London's Leicester Square on February 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Florida delegates dance on Day 2 of the RNC in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Irina Shayk posed on a unique bathroom set at Magazine London after walking in the Mowala SS25 catwalk show on September 16, 2024. The supermodel stunned in a bold, avant-garde outfit made entirely of blonde hair. (Photo by Lensi Photography/Splash News and Pictures)

Matthew Tkachuk #19 of Team USA fights with Brandon Hagel #38 of Team Canada during the first period in the 4 Nations Face-Off game at the Bell Centre on February 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

English comic actor and director Charlie Chaplin (Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, 1889–1977) seated on straw bales during the filming of “The Circus” with his leading lady Merna Kennedy (1908–1944). (Photo by Margaret Chute/Getty Images). 1928

Ex-Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger and The Cuban Brothers perform at the de Grisogono party during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Villa des Oliviers on May 15, 2018 in Cap d'Antibes, France. (Photo by Goff Photos)

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)