What happened to all the allied and American Prisoners of war before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Were they killed by the Japanese, or were they brought back to their countries?

Approximately 3,500 POWs died in Japan while they were imprisoned. In General, no direct access to the POWs was provided to the International Red Cross. There is a great deal of evidence the ICRC did visit some camps which were made 'presentable' to them by the Japanese.

a phrase from a poem by ralph waldo emerson about the battle of lexington and concord. emerson's words read, “here once the embattled farmers stood / and fired the shot heard round the world.”