For the common soldier war is about killing or being killed. Generals put them deliberately in that position to let him act this way. I think there is no point calling one of them 'beast', because war makes all men into beasts, whether they kill one or one thousand people.
Has long been down-estimated to less than 500 hit and a lot less than that killed. Still, it really is nothing more than an example of a well-known situation called "being at the right place at the right time."
