Purple Hearts and the war that never was

It was near the end of WW2, plans were developed to invade mainland Japan to end the war decisively.

When Empire of Japan's loyal soldiers had demonstrated their unwillingness to surrender via kamikaze attacks and mass suicides. Heavy losses were expected in order to achieve victory, judging by the 72000 causalities US had suffered in the 81 days of battle in Okinawa, tacticians were expecting up to 1 million causalities.

Purple Heart is one of the oldest medal in US military, it is awarded to men and women who were wounded or killed in battle. In anticipation of heavy losses, US had manufactured 500,000 Purple Hearts, just in case.

Luckily, invasion of Japan never happened, Japan surrendered after two nuclear bombs were dropped. All these Purple Hearts were stored for future use.

Many wars after WW2, including Korean War, Vietnam War, Iraq War... These Purple Hearts never ran out. According to some sources, there are still about 120,000 sitting around somewhere for "future use".

It is scary to think that 60 years after they were manufactured, wars are still happening, people are still dying around the world to receive these Medals.