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To my mind, since this is being written from a first person perspective, a large part of how to best answer this question involves the voice or nature of your character.
For example, a dry, analytical person might be inclined to give a dry, analytical account of their experiences. Here, a reader might be emotionally affected by the very coldness of the account itself, or in the seemingly unfeeling way the speaker describes what most would consider heinous events. This doesn't necessarily mean the character themselves is unfeeling; perhaps they just want to distance themselves from the emotional side of things and focus on the facts, either because it's easier for them that way, or because they want their account to seem a credible, objective retelling of history.
In contrast to this, consider an emotional character who feels badly for the people they're hurting, even if they feel it's necessary for some greater good. You're correct in being wary of overly "purple" writing, as you put it. It's difficult to "show rather than tell" within the context of a character recounting events, since something like a diary is inherently telling rather than showing. One suggestion I would make is to keep in mind how the character feels about the events they're seeing/remembering. Sometimes -- sometimes -- throwing in a simple remark like, "It was hard to watch" or "It sickened me" can lend some feeling to a scene and reveal your character's sentiments. Just don't do it too often.
I'm thinking of going all-in and simply explaining the massacre from a "recalling" point of view. [...] Does jumping straight into the action not translate into literature?
This isn't a bad idea. I would say this is more of a stylistic preference/issue than something that doesn't "translate into literature." (Just like many other things in writing, if it works well, and you like how it reads, then try it!) You can minimize your perspective shifts feeling jarring or confusing by clearly highlighting when the perspective changes. Headings work well in these cases. For example, you could begin the "live action" sections with a location & timestamp and your "memoir" sections with a heading clearly indicating you're back in memoir mode. Another tactic is to alter formatting in some way.
Additionally, your perspective shifts could also be exploited for additional character insight. If you show events from overlapping perspectives, then the way your character reacts to things versus how they write about them later can lend characterization. E.g., if your speaker describes something in his memoir that notably differs in some way from his in-the-moment response earlier on in the story, that might reveal something key about his nature or how he copes with events.
Stylistically-speaking, I would just say be aware of your pacing. You generally want things to move along steadily or swiftly in an action scene, so watch out for unnecessarily wordy sections or focusing too long on one moment. That said, those are just generalizations; there's no laws about these things. If you have a reason to dwell on a particular moment, or you feel that a long, flowing passage perfectly captures the intended feel for a scene rather than something more terse, then by all means, go for it.
Some general resources:
Blow-By-Blow: Writing Action and Fight Scenes — 5 Tips
A Guide To Writing Fight Scenes
Focus on the Fight: Writing Action Scenes That Land the Punch
I particularly like the remark in this article that "danger needs breathing room to be effective." In other words, you can enhance dramatic effect by introducing something perilous and letting it percolate for a bit before its effects hit. Also, consider when it might be more effective for the characters to see something dangerous beforehand versus letting only the reader see it.
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