Pearl Harbor & 911

Similarities and Differences: Pearl Harbor and 9/11

Sixty years separate two of the most infamous events in American history. Both the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor were defining moments that altered the course of history. Both caught the country by surprise, rallied its people against their attackers and engendered a long and difficult war against tyranny.

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 resulted in more than 2,400 American deaths. Within hours after the incident five of the eight battleships at the U.S. naval base were either sunk or sinking, and many other ships as well as combat planes were heavily damaged or destroyed. The Japanese hoped that by crippling the U.S. Pacific Fleet they could eliminate it as a threat to the Empire's desire to expand south. The attacks of September 11, 2001 were more symbolic...
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