A comment was made on my last post that really got me. I was going to just comment on that, but it turned into this:

It’s really shameful that so many Americans have forgotten the events that occured on Sept. 11, 2001 were an attack against America, an act of war, taking place on American soil. Yes, Pearl Harbor was also an act of war on American soil against Americans, but the similarities end there.

Pearl Harbor was an attack on American MILITARY forces. Yes, 68 civilians were killed. But so were 2,403 American servicemen. People who’s job it is to fight and die for their country. And when the attacks occurred on Pearl Harbor, the world was already in a state of war. It was only a matter of time before America was forced to join in. The attackers were the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States had already been intercepting Japanese messages and ciphering them. We knew an attack was possible, though were still caught unaware when we were attacked.

9-11 was an attack on CIVILIANS. The goal of the terrorists was to kill civilians and they did. They killed 2,967 of them. These were people going about their daily lives during PEACETIME when 19 terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flights 11 and 77 and United Airlines Flights 175 and crashed them into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93 was hijacked and would have crashed somewhere else, no doubt killing more civilians if it hadn’t been for the heros on that flight who fought back, causing the plane to crash in a field in Pennsylvania.

At Pearl Harbor, though caught unaware, the military had the means to fight back, to do their job. On 9/11, everyday Americans going about their lives became heros. Some by attacking their attackers and saving many lives at the risk of their own. Others, like the members New York City Police Department and the Fire Department City of New York, lost their lives trying to save lives.

I think the main difference between Pearl Harbor and the events of Sept. 11, 2001 is this: I remember being TAUGHT about Pearl Harbor in school. But for the rest of my life, I will remember even detail of 9/11. I’ll remember the exact spot I was standing when I heard a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. I will remember WATCHING on television the World Trade Center fall to the ground not 650 miles from where I was standing. I’ll remember wanting more than anything in the world to be home with my mother and my family and to not be seeing what was happening on telelvision. I’ll remember the aftermath, seeing people post signs all over Manhattan looking for information on missing loved ones, the months and months it took to clear the devastation at Ground Zero and the way everyone was so proud to be American.

Just one month after the attacks of 9/11, the United States led coalition forces in invading Afghanistan, the home of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the Al-Qaeda network and the plot to attack the World Trade Center. That was almost 4 and a half years ago. We are still there. In less than five months, I will be there.

Maybe most Americans have forgotten what happened on 9/11. You can bet those are the people who’s everyday lives weren’t affected or even interrupted by 9/11. Ask a family member of someone who was killed that day, and they’ll probably say they think of that tragic day every morning when they wake up and realize their spouse, child, parent, sister, brother, friend isn’t there anymore.

I remember 9/11. Too bad so many others have forgotten.