U.S. Congressional Representative Dana Rohrabacher described and tried to explain the horrors and brutality the prisoners experienced on the march:

They were beaten, and they were starved as they marched. Those who fell were bayoneted. Some of those who fell were beheaded by Japanese officers who were practicing with their samurai swords from horseback. The Japanese culture at that time reflected the view that any warrior who surrendered had no honor; thus was not to be treated like a human being. Thus they were not committing crimes against human beings.[...] The Japanese soldiers at that time [...] felt they were dealing with subhumans and animals.

That was the attitude of the Japanese military machine prior to and during WWII. It took the Hiroshima A-bomb, and finally, the Nagasaki bomb to convince them that they had lost the war. The Japanese surrendered at that point, thereby saving the lives of hundreds of thousands, both Allied military and Japanese, military and civilian.

One can "Monday morning quarterback" until hell freezes over, but that doesn't change the facts.

Don Firth