Parallels to Pearl Harbor: in 1941, as in 2001, a surprise attack on America united the nation for a major war.

• Author: Price, Sean
• Position: Times past

ON DECEMBER 7, 1941, STEPHEN BOWER Young was a happy man. The 19-year-old sailor on the U.S.S. Oklahoma looked out on a sunny Sunday at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a perfect day for a picnic with his girlfriend.

Then, just before 8 a.m., two bugle blasts rang over the battleship's loudspeaker. Young later recalled the puzzled looks his crewmates exchanged.

What the heck was this? Drills on Sunday? They knew we were all waiting to go ashore.

The harsh, excited voice on the PA system froze us in our tracks. "All hands, man your battle stations! On the double! This is no drill! Get going--they're real bombs!"

The shock that Young and other Americans felt 60 years ago as Japanese forces attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor seems tragically familiar today. As the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington unfolded, they were called "another Pearl Harbor."

The similarities are striking. Both incidents came as a surprise--despite what, in retrospect, seemed to have been warnings. They were carried out by militants who held the U.S. in contempt. And they united Americans to fight a global war.

ROOTS OF WAR

World War II was developing well before the attack on Pearl Harbor, as nations vied for raw materials, export markets, and land. In the early 20th century, European countries such as Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands ruled many parts of Asia; the U.S. controlled the Philippines as a colony.

Japan, independent, dreamed of empire. Its military leaders justified conquests in Asia by considering themselves liberators; their invasions of neighboring countries were freeing the region from white racism and domination by Western powers. As one Japanese general put it:

We are the leading Asiatic power and we should now take matters into our own hands.... We must be prepared to wage a desperate struggle. The Whites have made the countries of Asia mere objects of oppression, and imperial Japan should no longer let their impudence go unpunished.

Yet the Japanese ruled "liberated" areas such as China and Korea with their own brand of racism. The military believed that all other peoples were inferior and treated them with savage cruelty. They also believed that Japan's Emperor Hirohito was descended from the sun goddess and should be worshipped like a deity. Each day, Japanese teachers asked their classes: "What is your dearest ambition?" Each day, students would respond in unison: "To die for the Emperor!"

With this in mind, most Japanese...