After the Surrender was signed on the USS Missouri, my dad ( who was 18) was sent with his ship to retrieve over 250 American POWs who were on a tiny atoll in the Pacific. They expected the Americans to be emaciated and sick, so they assembled a medical team, and braced themselves for what was probably going to be a difficult, though happy assignment, bringing our boys home.
They arrived to find that the Japanese had abandoned the island, but not before beheading all 250 of the American POWs there.
This is not an anecdote. It is the truth.
That's why i always say, in regard to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that the Nips had it coming. And the bounus was that it ended the war and saved lives on both sides.
There is a superb WW II movie about a group of Australians who attempted an attack on Singapore harbor. They sank several ships, but were unable to make an escape and were eventually captured.
In the end, they were tried by a military court and sentenced to death. But, because their mission had been conducted so inventively and their conduct had demonstrated the highest qualities of bravery, they were also accorded The Highest Honor.
Which was death by beheading...