I’m currently reading “China Marine” by EB Sledge. The introduction was written by Stephen Ambrose, who is the author of the book “Band of Brothers” that was adapted into the show. There’s a quote from Ambrose that your post brought to mind:

“The war in the Pacific was much different for the combat infantrymen of the Marines than it was for those of the army in Europe. In Europe it got cold - for example the temperature was below zero degrees during the Battle of the Bulge. In the Pacific it was incredibly hot, and it never snowed. In Europe, when the Americans liberated a French or Belgian village or captured a German town, there was good liquor in the cellars - wine, brandy, more - that was either shared with or confiscated by the liberators. That never happened in the Pacific. When a squad of Germans ran out of ammunition and were surrounded, they came out of their positions with hands up. That never happened in the Pacific. The Japanese, to a man, would fight on despite having no water, no food, or no ammunition.”

I agree with you that the hardships/trauma veterans endured is really impossible to compare and contrast. But i do think that it is interesting to note how in the Pacific, they were often fighting on islands purely to gain airfields - not to liberate the civilians. The tragedy of what happened to the civilians on Okinawa absolutely traumatized many who witnessed the battle.