The day has faded from our national collective conscience. In a couple of weeks it will be sixty six years since the events of that awful morning in Hawaii. More than six decades of time has conspired to dim the national recollection of what happened that day. There will not be an all day memorial coverage from Fox News or CNN. Now, only the history books or a program on the Discovery Channel will tell us about the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941.

These same history books will report that 350 Japanese aircraft launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. The Japanese attack was intended to destroy the United States Pacific Fleet. The attack led to the sinking of  two U.S. Navy battleships, two destroyers, and the damage or destruction of 188 United States aircraft. Damaged United States warships included three cruisers, a destroyer, and six battleships. Thousands of unsuspecting people were killed or wounded.

The fact is that America was a divided country prior to December 7, 1941. Nearly half the nation wanted to avoid what would become known as World War II. The other half of the country saw the war as inevitable and wanted to enter. That all changed at 7:48 am Hawaiian Time on what would later become known as Pearl Harbor Day. The collective anger at the surprise attack by Japan would unify the American public. December 7, 1941 would be called "A Day That Will Live in Infamy" in a speech the next day by Franklin Delano Roosevelt that declared war on Japan and would herald America's entry into World War II .

It was the collective national anger at Japan that would form the foundation for the American response that would lead to victory at the Battle of Midway the following June and ultimately the total destruction of the Japanese Empire just four years later.

In retrospect, there are real parallels between December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001. In 1941, public opinion of the country was evenly divided about the merits of becoming involved in the growing international crisis that would soon become World War II. This divided opinion in 1941 was similar to the nearly identical split in opinion that would make the 2000 Presidential election the closest in American history. Both surprise attacks on America would act to unify America's collective will and channel energy for a forceful response. In addition, in both cases more than 2000 Americans lost their lives and aircraft was used as the instrument of tragedy. Also, both surprise attacks caught American security oblivious to the danger that was about to occur.

The American response to the attack on Pearl Harbor would destroy the Japanese empire and provide victory in World War II. The American response to the events of 9/11/2001, would result in the liberation of Afghanistan from the Taliban and the ongoing war in Iraq. Ultimately, history will judge whether George W. Bush will have used his mandate for war from the American people as well as Franklin Delano Roosevelt used his.

On December 7, 2007, at 7:48 Hawaiian time, it will be exactly sixty six years to the moment of the day that changed the world. It would be a morning of horror, in an otherwise beautiful day in a tropical paradise. The American Navy would receive a crippling, albeit temporary, blow. More than 2300 people would tragically lose their lives, while over a thousand people would be wounded during the bombing and air assault. However, out of the darkness of that Hawaiian morning, would eventually come a new dawn in the successful end of the second World War and the Allied victory.

We have ceremonies to honor the loss of the innocent people that went to work and never returned on 9/11/2001. The memories of that awful morning are etched into our memories. Unlike September 11, 2001, many of us were not alive to recall the attack by Japan on America on the morning of December 7, 1941. However, understanding the horror of 9/11 should give us a unique connection with the innocent men and women that lost their lives in the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor on that day sixty six years ago.

Indeed, an ordinary passage of time should not stop us from remembering the tragic events of December 7, 1941. It is up to us to remember that day and the lives that were lost defending America. It is up to us to insure that the memory of that day will live in infamy.

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