My father had a cousin who was a CO in WWII and served as a medic. It was a religious conviction of his and he served as a front line combat medic all across North Africa and up the Boot with Clark. You better not say anything about that type of CO's not doing their jobs and serving their country around my father. And medics are worth their weight in gold, many times over, when the S--- hits the fan. I could not do it. To serve under fire, with out a gun, work to save lives while in the thick of things takes a special kind of courage.
As to the Japanese "commitment" to death before surrender my father told me he never saw more than a short platoon of Japanese prisoners of war come off any of the islands they captured in WWII. 99+% KIA. Most who were captured had been knocked out and captured before they regain consciousness. Then again most did not fare well after they started using blasting compound, dynamite and flame throwers to get them out of their dug in emplacements. Very high mortality rates under those situations.
