On December 7, 1941 the Japanese raided Pearl Harbor, and changed the course of history. The carefully-planned and executed attack devastated the United States Navy's battleship force, allowing the Japanese Empire to expand southward undeterred. America, unprepared and considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant. We lost 2403 people that day and about 1178 wounded from these attacks. The memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination to fight WWII, a war we as America didn't want. Very parallel to 9/11. On September 11.2001, 2,985 people died in the terrorist attacks, again propelling the U.S into a war on terror, a war we didn't ask for.
Today we remember those lives lost and affected during the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. I was fortunate to visit Pearl harbor and the USS Arizona memorial this year with my family. It is a solemn and sobering experience, even for those (like me) who were not alive when the attack occurred. You are literally standing over a grave of 1177 men. Even more ere, you can still see oil and air bubbles that are trapped in the vessel still coming to the surface today.
Admiral Yamamoto, is quoted after the attacks as saying, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant." He was right. America mobilized an industrial war machine never before seen in history; producing more tank, planes, rifles, and ammunition than anyone thought possible. Maybe the terrorist of 9/11 should have taken this quote to heart.
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