Sixty years ago today, bombs and suicide planes rained down on America. At 7:55 a.m. the Japanese launched an unprecedented offensive on America by bombing Pearl Harbor. More than 2,300 people were killed in the attack and 19 military ships were damaged or destroyed.
Pearl Harbor was the first time America was attacked on its own soil by a foreign country. This day of infamy -- Dec. 7, 1942 -- became a turning point in our nation's history. It motivated a generation, what some have called the greatest generation, to make heroic sacrifices to protect the freedoms and ideals American was built upon. And, it propelled us from isolation.
Until recently, the images of such death and destruction as occurred at Pearl Harbor would have seemed unfathomable to most Americans. Unfortunately, since Sept. 11, this kind of terror is all too real. It is eerie how many similarities these two events share. In both instances, we were a nation caught off guard. Confident because of our size and stature, we naively believed we were immune to such brazen attacks. In each case, the offensive was executed with precision and thorough planning. And, both events catapulted us into military conflicts.
There are important differences, however. In the case of Pearl Harbor, the enemy was easily identifiable and the target was the American military. The attack on Pearl Harbor also had strategic military value for the Japanese -- cripple the United States' Pacific fleet so Japan's land and power seizures could be unchallenged.
In contrast, the Sept. 11 attack was carried out by an invisible enemy, whose location, membership and motives are uncertain. The victims were civilians. And, the attack, while dramatic and deadly, did not have any obvious strategical value in relation to an overall military campaign.
We can only hope there will be one more similarity between these two events in our nation's history. Despite being battered and bruised at Pearl Harbor, the United States was victorious in the end. Let's hope we can once again emerge from tragedy as the victor. We mark the 60th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor with solemn respect and remembrance of the high price of freedom paid by Americans then and now.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, December 7, 2001.