Here is a picture of the handing over ceremony of the bells with at least one US officer present that I see and what appear to be other Americans and Filipinos:
Note, this happened after the Spanish-American war and was fought against Philippine fighters (Excerpt).
U.S. Returns Balangiga Church Bells To The Philippines After More Than A Century
By Julie McCarthy NPR
December 11, 2018
..
The native fighters slaughtered 48 U.S. servicemen, two-thirds of the company, as the Americans were eating breakfast.
The Americans declared it a “massacre,†and launched a blistering retaliation. U.S. Gen. Jacob Smith ordered his forces to kill any Filipino male over 10 who could wield a weapon. “I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn,†he told his men. (Smith was later court-martialed for his conduct.)
Historian Xiao Chua says the most credible accounts suggest that the Americans did not “wantonly kill civilians.†Rather, they destroyed everything else.
“Because they were still mad — they burned the village. They killed the animals. They burned crops. Basically, the whole of Samar [island] was turned into a ‘howling wilderness,’ †he says, using a phrase contained in an actual order.
Article: https://www.wuft.org/nation-world/2018/12/11/after-117-years-balangiga-bells-will-be-returned-to-the-philippines/
So, from this, perhaps, the US did not go on a big killing spree per this historian but still took some revenge in the situation by destroying property. I've got to say, some of this story is unsettling. If this whole incident was violent and here we are over 100 years later, those involved in this ceremony were very civil. And of course, we made great sacrifices for the Philippines during WWII. Something for the historians.
