The finality of death vs. the pursuit of scientific advancement

They say, there is glory
They say there is glory in death
But who really remembers the fallen?
And what sort of methods
What of the means to achieve
Self inflicted, or under the blade, experiments of torture
But he appeared as a doctor
And he's taken an oath
To revive to renew to repair
He gave him no struggle
Till he produced the scalpel
And proceeded no further prepared than that
They say, there is justice
And after all these men took an oath
So how did he find himself strapped to a table
Unprepared for the surgical probe
What kind of results did he seek
When he removed a lung just to see
How the subject would cope with the surgical practice
How quickly his health would deplete
Cutting deep into his chest
Analysing the potential for cardiac arrest
Surgery sans anesthesia to see how a man
Would deal with the pain
You'll wish you died in the field
Repeat the mantra
They say, there is glory
They say there is glory in death
But is it any more valid if you die under sufferance
Or under extreme duress
Would you say there's an ounce more esteem
For a death on the battlefield
As opposed to that suffered by a prisoner of war
His enemies' captive
Under the blade the experimental doctor's hand