The terrorist assault on America was a shocking sneak attack. It has made Americans angry and instilled a national sense of purpose.

        In those ways, it mirrored Dec. 7, 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, say several World War II veterans.

Retired Navy Vice Admiral John Colwell at his home in Hartwell. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        But there are differences.

        “We did not expect Pearl Harbor. Who would have expected the World Trade Center to be targeted? Both are unbelieveable situations — the latter even more so,” said John Hortel, 79, of Dillonvale.

        “I enlisted then, and I went up to the local (Air Force Reserve) unit after the Trade Center to offer my help the other day, but they didn't want an old (guy) like me now.”

        As a World War II gunner, his B-24 was shot down and crash landed in Yugoslavia. He retired from the Air Force Reserves as a lieutenant colonel.

        John Colwell, 91, a three-star vice admiral, said there is one other key parallel — “an intangible spirit — ... national pride.”

        He commanded the destroyer USS Converse, served on the battleship Missouri in World War II, and was a deputy chief of naval operations at the Pentagon in the 1960s.

        “After Pearl Harbor, everyone was going about their business and seemed in a hurry to get it done. And, that is what I would expect will happen again,” said Mr. Colwell, who lives in the Evergreen Retirement Community in Hartwell.

        “This country will accept whatever is required. It's the people who make a country and I have every confidence in the people and in the country.”

        Mary Estell, 82, of Blue Ash, watched her now-deceased husband, William, go off to the Navy in World War II.

        “Our country is stronger now. Back then, there was not the immediate unity that is happening now. All we had was radio and newspapers. There was no television. Watching this on television has helped to unify us faster. But, I still pray we can do it.”

        Bob Howe, 81, of Reading, a retired math teacher, served in the Army Signal Corps in World War II. “While we can draw many parallels, there are major differences. The problem here is one of religious intolerance — Muslim extremists — and that presents a totally different situation.”

        John Sacks, 77, of Mason, an Armco Steel retiree, was an Army Air Corps lieutenant in World War II. He, too, worries about backlash.

        “Muslims in the United States are facing much the same threatening treatment as American Japanese encountered after Pearl Harbor.”

        “We can do it again,” said Phil Spiess, 82, who fought at Guadalcanal and Bougainville in the South Pacific as an Army sergeant. He lives with his wife, Dorothy, at Evergreen Retirement Community.

        “It goes back to our founding fathers — the Revolution — when we fought for our freedom and we weren't given much of a chance of winning. We are going to survive. Our history has instilled that in our character.”
       

Liberty, security at odds in U.S.
Muslims return home after being questioned
Shootings change officers' lives
Air National Guard: 'We're ready now'
WWII vets see parallels
HOWARD: Some Good News
$7.2M proposal before UC board
Closing arguments set to begin in Roach trial
E. Price Hill fights housing project
Fall Fest brings music, fireworks to river town
Fourth-graders learn a lesson from tragedy
Interstate 471 ramps close Tues.
Loans, grants aid flood victims
Ohio 32-Eight Mile intersection a hazard
Oktoberfest attracts big crowd
Tristate A.M. Report
Mysteries uncovered in prehistoric graves
Rural roots, fresh bounty
Militia groups express fear about rights
Welfare stirs debate
Apartment fire sends students fleeing
Dragonflies taking off as mosquitoes rise
Election left hard feelings
Sailor killed at Pentagon buried in Ky.
Training for terror acts is routine