Two girls run through the heavy rain as people head out to Wind Street in Swansea, Wales to celebrate Halloween on Monday, October 31, 2022. (Photo by Robert Melen)

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)

A Libyan fireman stands in front of smoke and flames rising from an oil storage tank at an oil facility in northern Libya's Ras Lanouf region on January 23, 2016, after it was set ablaze earlier in the week following attacks launched by Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to seize key port terminals. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

Revellers perform during the “Salsodromo”, the kick-off of the music and cultural festival Feria de Cali (Cali Fair) in Cali, Colombia, on December 25, 2021. The “Salsodromo”, an event in which more than 2,500 revellers and salsa music dancers perform along a kilometre-long stripe, marks the start of the Feria de Cali festival every year. (Photo by Paola Mafla/AFP Photo)

Craig Goodwin of Australia celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group D match between France and Australia at Al Janoub Stadium on November 22, 2022 in Al Wakrah, Qatar. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul (3) crashes into fans during the second half of the game against the LA Clippers at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on February 16, 2023. (Photo by Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports)

Members of the Unidos da Tijuca samba school parade at the “Opening of Carnival 2022” event, at the Cidade do Samba, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 27 February 2022. The event is a preview of the parades of the Samba Schools of the Special Group, postponed to April due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. (Photo by Andre CoelhoEPA/EFE)

A little girl seen waiting in a queue to participate in the Kumari Puja ritual in Kolkata, India on March 30, 2023. Kumari Puja is an Indian Hindu Tradition mainly celebrated during the Durga Puja / Basanti Puja / Navratri according to Hindu calendar. Kumari actually describes a young virgin girl from the age 1 to 16 who is getting worshipped during the transition of Ashtami / Navami tithi of Durga Puja / Navaratri according to Hindu mythology. (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)