Tuesday, September 11th 2001, (911), marked the second "Day of
Infamy" in my lifetime. The first, December 7th 1941, following the attack
on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, was designated as a "Day of Infamy" by
President Franklin Roosevelt in his speech in which he declared that the
United States was "now in a state of war."

Although I, along with all people of my generation, sank to previously
unknown low levels of apprehension, anger, sadness and depression on the
7th of December 1941, there was no comparison to that which I experienced
as a result of the horrendous and dastardly act of the more recent strike of the
terrorists against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

First, the detailed and explicit television coverage of the terrorists'
attack on New York City and the Pentagon in Washington caused me to feel
the attack was directed against me, and thus it was very personal. The TV
presentations engraved in one's mind the very graphic and ugly picture of the
huge twin World Trade Center towers burning, exploding, and tumbling to the
ground. Pictures of frantic people, ordinary innocent citizens, jumping from
the upper floors of the towers to their death; others, covered by the dust from
ashes, scrambling for safety, running wildly in the streets of downtown New
York City remain etched in my memory. Because of television, I was made
to feel as if I was at the scene of the chaos.

Second, as tragic as it was, the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the
Japanese was not nearly so surprising to me as was the "911 Act". I was
already in the Army, I had undergone training for war, fully expected to go to
war, so I guess I was far more mentally prepared for the sudden
"announcement" by the Japanese on that Sunday morning of 7 December
1941. that war was at hand.

Third, the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was directed to
military targets, while only innocent civilians were the victims of the suicidal
attacks by the terrorists on 11 September 2001.

Fourth, the distance from the scene of the catastophe to where I was
physically located made a difference in my reaction to the two tragic events.
On December 7 1941, with the Pacific ocean in between Japan and the US, I
did not feel that we were in any immediate danger of a Japanese attack on the
continental US. But in the case of the September 11th attack, New York and
Washington are "just up the road". Further, the terrorists were known to
have been in various locations in the US, a fact that made me realize that
there may be others in my neighborhood, and that the same sort of attack
could take place in my back yard.

The one thing which both the NYC-Washington and the Pearl Harbor
attacks have in common is the immediate bonding together of the people of
this country into one entity which resulted from each. Never before Pearl
Harbor, in my lifetime, at least, were the citizens so unified in a common
effort, and never since, until the attack of 11 September 2001. No other
event in my life time has aroused the spirit of the citizenry as did Pearl Harbor
and the hijacking and bombing by the terrorists on 11 September 2001.
Neither the Korean War, Viet Nam War nor the war against Saddam Hussain
(Desert Storm) resulted in the "Solid Front" of Unity of the American people
as that evidenced by either of the Two Days of Infamy mentioned above.

Following the Pearl Harbor sneak attack, this entity (the bonding
together) of all citizens of the United States continued from that day forward
until the end of the war. The fact that so many families had members who
were in the service was a great asset in retaining that entity. With no buildup
of mass proportions resulting from the 911 Act, that close contact between
the citizenry and the military will be lacking. How long will the "Spirit of
Unity", or the moral commitment of the American citizens prevail? The
answer to that question may be the determining factor in deciding the winner
of this war with the terrorists.

It is very easy for one to criticize the U. S. government for not being
better prepared for the hideous terrorist attack which occurred on the morning
of 11 September. Yes, our intelligence should have been better. The
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) should have done a better job.
There are too many illegal aliens allowed in the United States. There is
practically no surveillance directed toward aliens known to be in our country.
The U. S. should have more aggressively pursued the perpetrators of the
bombing of the USS Cole in the harbor of Yeman in October 2000; maybe,
"by nipping such acts in the bud", we would not have had the Second Day of
Infamy on 11 September 2001. But such "Monday Morning Quarterbacking"
does not solve any problem.

For those of us who are prone to criticize, we must remember that in
exercising stricter control over foreigners in this country, we would, at the
same time, impose certain restrictions on American citizens. It was
considered to be unacceptable by the American citizen if the government
imposed restrictions on one's freedoms, i.e. freedom to travel.

In spite of everything else, we must continue to appreciate and
maintain (protect) the Freedom which we enjoy. Freedom is the very
foundation of our democratic system of government. But at the same time,
we must realize that Freedom is not free; and as someone has so wisely
added, "it cannot be paid for in one lump payment". Payment for that
Freedom is a continuing thing which must be borne by everyone. Every
generation in the history of the United States has made its respective "partial
payment."

Many of our friends, while serving in the Armed Forces, have already
paid the supreme price (their respective lives) to gain and protect that
Freedom. Those of us enjoying that Freedom should be more than willing to
undergo a few hardships as our "price" for that Freedom. It may become
necessary for that price to be paid each day in the form of something,
heretofore recognized as a restriction, i.e., a much more thorough inspection
before boarding an airliner, or carrying a personal Identification Card at all
times, etc.

Following this act of war against our nation on September 11th, the
government, ably led by President Bush, was quick to realize that this was a
new experience for our country. The enemy is far more difficult to identify.
There is no country, no recognized or accepted government whose military
force brought about this horrendous attack upon the United States.
Therefore, the mass mobilization of military forces for deployment against the
military power of another country, as was the case against the Japanese
following Pearl Harbor, was not the answer.

Identifying the perpetrators of the horrendous act of the second Day of
Infamy was the first and most important task. Once the terrorists were
identified as the enemy, obtaining global support from other governments as
Allies to combat the terrorists was of paramount significance. Seizing and
freezing the assets of the terrorists' organizations was of great value.
Identifying those countries which give safe havens, or which harbor, the
terrorists, has magnified the definition of the enemy. Warning those countries
that they would be treated as enemy unless the terrorists were released to the
U. S. was more than fair treatment.

Although the enemy may not be counted in the millions, they have
already deployed their forces in many countries, where they are living as
ordinary citizens, and will be difficult to locate or isolate. The moral
commitment, which may be more significant than the physical, of the enemy
has already been demonstrated. They are willing, no, anxious to give their
respective lives for their cause.

In bringing all possible resources (diplomatic, economic, cultural,
humane (food for the starving Afghans), et. al.), to bear on the problem, I
believe the U. S. did all it can do, before employing its military to ferret out
the terrorists. With the first air strikes and use of long range missiles, we
have started the difficult process of bringing Bad Laden to justice.

The type of warfare which will be conducted, primarily because of the
very difficult terrain in that part of the world, will be unlike any that we have
seen in previous wars. It may be a long drawn-out process. Undoubtedly, it
will involve many surprise operations on pin-pointed positions where
members of the Al-Qaeda (Bin Laden's network of terrorists) are known to be
hiding. The enemy can be expected to fight a battle of attrition, hoping to
drag the battle out until the "American public has lost its will to fight". As
exemplified by the recent appearance of anthrax at several significant points
in the US we can expect large doses of pain and fear resulting from the use or
threatened use of other "sand in the gears" tactics, ranging from livestock
infestations to attacks at water supply points, and power distribution facilities.

In the meantime, citizens of the United States must be very alert,
maintaining a strong vigilance against the threat of more, and possibly, worse
acts of terrorism. As citizens, we should demand that our news media, under
the guise of "Freedom of the Press", refrain from announcing detailed
descriptions of the Allies' operations, conjectures, predictions, enumerating
possible courses of action, publicizing breakdowns of security, and naming
possible targets. Such information gives the enemy very valuable background
material in his preparation to meet our attacks, as well as plan possible
actions against America; in addition to jeopardizing the lives of American and
Allied soldiers.

As citizens of America, we must remember that this fight may be "over
a long haul", that we must be willing to pay the price (undergo certain
hardships or inconveniences). We must be patient and allow sufficient time
for our military to convert from Cold War doctrine, strategy and tactics. As
reflected by the terrorists themselves aboard the hijacked aircraft; this will be
a "knife fight" and will be won or lost by the ingenuity and will of citizens
and soldiers, not by software or smart or high technological weapons. We
must continue, with no time limit, to be a part of the "Solid Front" against
terrorism, and must give support to our government in its effort to erase this
threat to World Freedom from the face of the earth.