You do realise that most of the purple hearts issued today were quite likely from the five hundred thousand that were made in preparation for Operation Downfall? It's hard to tell whether or not the casualties of Operation Downfall would have exceeded that of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but considering that at least seven nuclear weapons would have been used or available to be used during Operation Downfall, it could be argued that the civilian deaths alone would be three times higher. The devastation would not have been limited to two cities either it would have been distributed equally across the whole continent.
Very much a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, but an invasion of Japan would have been monstrous for both sides.
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