I had a co-worker 40 years ago who had been with the infantry in the Pacific in WWII. One of his stories was how, during the battle of Okinawa, his unit had been able to capture a nearly-naked Japanese soldier. As he was being captured, all of the anger that had built up over the horrific experiences erupted, and all the unit started pulling out their bayonets, preparing to group-impale the soldier. Then from the back of the group, one of my co-worker’s buddies shouted, “Oh c’mon, someone give him a cigarette,” and within seconds all the rifles were down and the unit was offering the Japanese soldier water, cigarettes, chocolate, whatever they had. That was the difference between us and them in WWII, and it is the difference between us and them today, even though the “them” has changed from Japanese Imperialists to Islamic jihadists: they revel in death, and we revel in life.
Malmedy.
Not too many Germans captured alive for a while after Malmedy.