It was the morning of December 7, 1941 when a very large fleet of Japanese fighter planes covered 2000 miles and launched a strike on the U.S. military at the Pearl Harbor near Hawaii. The military saw 20 naval vessels, 8 enormous ships, and almost 200 airplanes crumble before their eyes during the 2 hours of the attack. 2000 American soldiers and sailors took their last breaths on the Harbor during the startling assault, and the incident left close to 1000 military men wounded. The Pearl Harbor incident was an attack on one of the strongest entities in the United States and left all the people in fear and uncertainty. The day of September 11, 2001 saw yet another intrusion on the United States, except this time the targets were innocent unsuspecting civilians who were going about their routine tasks. It was a clear Tuesday morning when at 08 45, an American Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the World Trade Centre in the New York City. The jet loaded with 20,000 gallons of fuel crashed into the 80th floor of the skyscraper cutting off access to all 30 floors above. About 18 minutes after the first strike, and in the midst of all the chaos and the rescuing attempts, a second Boeing 767 crashed into the 60th floor of the building. The jet fuel from the attacks set off a conflagration in the building, compromising its structure and claiming close to 343 lives.
Both of these events are regarded as quite significant in our history and touched the lives of many. In some respects, there were quite a few similarities between the two. Both of the two attacks took the American population by complete and utter surprise, and proved to us that even a state as powerful as America is not impervious of foreign attacks. The incidents made us so mistrustful and jittery that we kept expecting yet another attack immediately preceding the incidents. And especially in the case of the 9/11 belligerence, the perpetrators attacked us at the world trade center twice and once at the Pentagon just outside of Washington. Even at the end of the incident, we kept expecting yet another knock-down. Another aspect where the two incidents come together is the arresting realization that the state of America cannot stand separated from the incidents affecting the rest of the world. The Pearl Harbor incident was a reminder of the World War II, while the 9/11 event resulted from the state of terrorism in the Middle East. Both of the incidents led U.S.A into war that we had yet to rid ourselves of. The Pearl Harbor debacle forced us to join in the World War while the 9/11 incident pushed us forward to retaliate against violence that was uncalled for.
There however are also a few outlooks according to which the two incidents differ from one another. The most obvious difference is the targets of the attack. The attack on Pearl Harbor was against the military while innocent civilians were targeted in the 9/11 incident. Also, while the assault on Pearl Harbor was sanctioned by a government which was launched with use of 360 planes and 6 aircraft carriers, the 9/11 attack was launched by independent individuals scheming on a personal agenda where 19 people and four aircrafts were involved. Yet another difference is the reaction of the people to both attacks. While in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Americans were placed in relocation centers, America made attempts not to react against the American Muslims after the attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
Both of these incidents affected us in different ways and took away many innocent lives. We can still clearly recall the incidents of the Pearl Harbor and face the repercussions from the incident to date. The 9/11 incident is also something that we evoke with dreadful clarity and are still able to see and interact with the people whose lives were altered that day, and we still have people amongst us who have sad stories to recite about that day. But, how much further into the future is the incident of 9/11 going to stay with us? And are the future generations going to recall it as we do the one that happened at the Pearl Harbor? Only time will tell.
Works Cited
Kleinsasser, Joe. Pearl Harbor, 9/11 attacks have similarities, differences. 6 September 2011. <http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/stories/story.asp?si=1564>.
Staff, History.com. 9/11 attacks. 2010. <http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks>.
Staff, History.com. PEARL HARBOR. 2009. <http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor#>.
