Wilfred Caouette, a US marine who took part in a number of battles against the Japanese during World War II, remembered how the Japanese would do everything to "take just one more marine". In Saipan, a Japanese woman with raised arms indicated that she wanted to surrender. She fell to the ground. A soldier next to her fell behind her and began firing a light machine gun that had been strapped to her back. A few marines were hit before the woman and the soldier were killed.
Caouette said the flamethrower was the weapon the Japanese on Iwo Jima feared the most. The weapon would either flush the Japanese from their deep tunnels or kill them. He remembered hearing the muffled sounds of exploding grenades coming from the tunnels. He said, "The Japs were committing suicide rather than risk being burned alive."
第二次世界大戰期間，美國海軍陸戰隊員威佛德．考埃特曾參與多場對日本的戰役。他記得日軍怎樣不擇手段，「能殺一個海軍陸戰隊員，就殺一個」。在塞班島，一個日本婦人舉起雙手，表示投降，卻突然伏下，她身旁一個士兵落後一步，用縛在那婦人背後的輕機槍開火，打中幾個海軍陸戰隊員，才和那婦人一起被殺。
考埃特說，硫磺島上日軍最害怕的武器，是噴火器。噴火器不是把他們從深深的地道裏趕出來，就是取他們性命。考埃特記得聽見地道裏隱約傳來的手榴彈爆炸聲。他說：「那些日本鬼怕被活活燒死，先行自殺。」