A protestor offers prayers on the second day of a demonstration demanding Prime Minister Najib Razak's resignation and electoral reforms in Kuala Lumpur on August 30, 2015. Tens of thousands of Malaysians swarmed central Kuala Lumpur on August 29, to call for the prime minister's ouster over corruption allegations and demand broader reforms, defying warnings by police who had declared the rally illegal. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/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)

Anne Owen and Abigail Owen-Pontez strap into “Elee”, a car made of cutlery from American Airlines during the Everyones Art Car Parade May 14, 2005 in Houston, Texas. The silverware was purchased by Houston artist Mark Bradford when the airline had to convert to plasticware after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The parade includes around 280 cars and is part of Art Car Weekend along with a street festival, parade, carnival, ball and other events. (Photo by Dave Einsel/Getty Images)

Getting it done. Felicity, an athlete at an amateur weightlifting competition in a small local gym. (Photo by Clinton Bradbury/Women in Sport Photo Action Awards 2021)

“Family disagreement”. (Photo by Vlado Pirsa/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2019)

Two novice Buddhist monks walk alongside a basket seller to collect alms following a clerics rule of no footwear nor use of umbrellas in Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, October 9, 2015. (Photo by Hkun Lat/AP Photo)

Josef Tödtling – Longest duration full-body burn (without oxygen) Guinness World Records 2016. Location: Styria, Austria. (Photo by Richard Bradbury/Guinness World Records)

Drag queens Maude Boate, Anita Wiglit and Kita Mean pose for a photograph before boarding the NSW TrainLink Silver City Stiletto train at Central station in Sydney, Australia, 12 September 2019. Drag queens and kings will travel to the outback NSW town of Broken Hill to attend the annual Broken Heel festival, paying homage to the iconic Australian film “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”. (Photo by James Gourley/AAP)