Losses, casualties and definitions are all a matter of perspective and I would suggest that the Congolese, the South American tribes, Pacific Islanders nor the American Indian see WW2 as the greatest catastrophes to have been inflicted on their people throughout history.
Nail on the head on that one,
The glory and joy to be seen in WW 2 is the victory over murderous regimes who were out for domination by force of there neighbors.
But hey let's look in context, we do that exact same thing now in the West and even by countries of the east now financially.
You don't need a military occupation to control the world, just a world bank some sanctions and the reserve currency.
The story is repeating itself but this time the war isn't being won by tanks and planes, but financial and diplomatic positioning and low intensity conflicts.
WW 2 in a broader context can be seen as an example of a style of empire dying out in survival of the fittest, the Nazis and Imperial Japan were less fit.
The West and USSR won, then 50 years later the USSR died out, now the US and the EU are on the same path of national Darwinism. If East Asia and India end up becoming the social, economic and military leaders of the world by the end of the 21st Century, the impact and rules laid down after WW 2 will be quite mute.
And the honor and glory shared by the victors will be most likely long faded.
The new powers to be would have little interest in that.
Regardless I am very happy the Allies won, don't consider me ungrateful. Just the one thing that remains the same is that change in constant.