There are few days in American history that “live in infamy,” branded deep into people’s minds, prompting each new generation to ask the previous – “Where were you when . ?”

Many people have compared the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 7, 1941, allowing young people to relate to their grandparents’ experiences during and after the attacks on Pearl Harbor.

Joe Myers, an Army ROTC cadet, said the attacks showed him first-hand what his grandparents went through in 1941.

“I grew up in a military family and I talked to my grandparents quite a bit about Pearl Harbor,” said Myers, senior in industrial technology. “The events of Sept. 11 didn’t necessarily help me relate better to my grandfathers, but it did give me a more current perspective on the events we talked about.”

The two attacks have changed America and Americans forever, said Marvin Meek, professor and chairman of military science.

“Both attacks were surprises and out of the blue – no one was expecting either of them to happen,” Meek said. “The majority of Americans were feeling somewhat content and safe right before both attacks. It changed people’s perspectives and brought the wars of the world closer to home.”

James McCormick, professor and chairman of political science, said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 also can be compared to the Vietnam War era.

“Vietnam was a dramatic, socializing event that occurred at a crucial time, much like Sept. 11,” McCormick said. “They were both searing events on college-age students that changed, formed and socialized many people’s opinions on foreign policy and the international system.”

Although the attacks on Pearl Harbor and those of Sept. 11 have many similarities, they were in very different times.

Television, the Internet and other modern technology allowed people to get immediate information about the Sept. 11 attacks and actually see the terrorist attacks as they happened.

“It took longer, sometimes whole days and weeks, for people to hear about Pearl Harbor because they used the radio and other slower technology to get their information,” Meek said. “With Sept. 11, people were watching. Many turned on the television and actually saw the second plane hit.”

Hamilton Cravens, professor of history, said the Pearl Harbor attacks were against a military base and military personnel, whereas the attacks of Sept. 11 resulted in mostly civilian death.

According to the Naval History Web site, www.history.navy.

mil, 2,403 Americans died in Pearl Harbor, 68 of whom were civilians.

An estimated 3,300 have been found dead after the Sept. 11 attacks. Military personnel made up 125 of those.

“Pearl Harbor led 15 to 16 million soldiers into war, ” Cravens said.

“But now because of the terrorist attacks, there is a non-traditional war with fewer people fighting. In 1942, people knew we had to defeat the German, Italian and Japanese governments, but today there isn’t such a government to defeat. The enemy in this case is in a shadow and much less defined.”

Another important difference – Americans fear very different weapons today, Cravens said.

“As far as anybody knew, there was no such thing as weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

“No one knew about the bombs available, the biological weapons like smallpox and anthrax or the horrors we could face.”