Bataan Death March Madness

It seems to me to be needlessly cruel to make these vetrans re-live the experience of Bataan by marching them through Chicago. Did they line the route with psychotic Japanese soldiers to bayonet them when they collapsed from exhaustion? It reminds me of how they'd roll out Christopher Reeve in his wheel chair and everyone stood up and applauded. Really people! He knew he couldn't stand up, did they have to remind him.