A Russian female military cadet marches in front of the Eternal Flame at the WWII memorial complex at Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow on February 17, 2021, during a rehearsal for the upcoming February 23's Defender of the Fatherland Day. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

Rev. Yeon Ah Lee Moon of the Sanctuary Church holds a gold AR-15 during a ceremony to rededicate marriages at the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, USA, 28 February 2018. The church, a breakaway from the Unification Church, believes guns are a symbol of the “rod of iron” referenced in the Book of Revelations. (Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/EFE)

Celebrities including singer Nicole Scherzinger and actor Simon Pegg have been snapped by top photographer Rankin for an Oxfam campaign. All in all, a dozen well-known faces have been captured in various poses to highlight the charity's Lift Lives for Good campaign. The fundraising drive, launched at the start of the year, aims to shine a light on the work done by the charity to help poor people around the world. Photo: Undated handout photo issued by Oxfam of Caroline Flack who took part in a photo shoot with top photographer Rankin for Oxfam's Lift Lives for Good campaign. (Photo by Rankin/PA Wire)

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)

Steven de Costa of France, top, and Kalvis Kalnins of Latvia react during the men's kumite -67kg elimination round for Karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, August 5, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Vincent Thian/AP Photo)

Content Creator Tina Lee poses for pictures during a media preview of Summit at One Vanderbilt in New York, October 1, 2021. The Summit viewing deck is spread across the top four floors on One Vanderbilt in Manhattan, the fourth tallest building in the city. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

Gina Di Meo, journalist from ANSA sits during a media preview of Summit at One Vanderbilt in New York, October 1, 2021. The Summit viewing deck is spread across the top four floors on One Vanderbilt in Manhattan, the fourth tallest building in the city. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

Former top models Carla Bruni (L), Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen display iconic creations of late Italian designer Gianni Versace's during the Versace Spring/Summer 2018 show at the Milan Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, September 22, 2017. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)