December 7, 1941. A date which will live in infamy.
After noting the anniversary of 9/11, I would be remiss if I did not mention another dark day in U.S. history. While many have drawn comparisons between the attack at Pearl Harbor and the attacks on 9/11, they are two entirely different tragedies.
I don't want to underplay Pearl Harbor, but the 9/11 attacks were mostly aimed at civilians, unlike Pearl Harbor. The loss of life was similar both times.
And an interesting parallel: along with the military targets in Hawaii, the Japanese also went after targets that had to do with fire suppression. Anything such as fire stations, fire engines, water tanks was a target. (That's not to say that the hijackers planned to kill 343 firefighters in NYC.)
The scope of the Pearl Harbor attack must have been mind-boggling. Even a Boy Scout troop went into action as a firefighting crew to battle the blazes on the island.
Thank you to the service men and women who served in both the Pacific and European theaters during WWII.
Posted by JRC at December 7, 2003 08:00 AM