NEW YORK (CNN) - Today we remember the thousands of our fellow citizens who were victims of atrocity a year ago today. And we will do so on this date for years to come. Just as we remember those who lost their lives on December 7th at Pearl Harbor, but with diminishing clarity as each year has distanced us from that day of infamy six decades ago.

A number of people have compared the terrorist attack of September 11th to that surprise Japanese attack. Both attacks killed thousands of Americans without warning...both were unprecedented ...and in both cases, we should have expected the unexpected.

A year after both attacks, newspaper headlines reflected far different national moods....

This morning's New York Times featured a full page headline that read: U.S. Steps Up Alert as Solemn Day Arrives.

And a smaller article headlined: Mental Health: The Profession Tests Its Limits.

And there was a special section called A Nation Challenged, which featured an article entitled Death as a Constant Companion.

Contrast those headlines to the Times of 60 years ago:

U.S. and 7 Allies Raid Europe in Biggest Daylight Attack,

another headline for a story datelined Pearl Harbor: Nimitz Looks to Taking War into Home Waters of Japan.

There was only a small one-inch column that morning on the observance of Pearl Harbor Day. The headline read: Pearl Harbor Day Finds Nation Sure of Japan's Defeat.

Certainly that morning's Times reflected a nation resolved to remembrance through achievement, and one committed to victory.

I think part of the contrast between then and now is today this war against unnamed enemies is being prosecuted by only a few of us... it's our voluntary military fighting today... 4 million Americans from all walks of life, every segment of society had been drafted into service a year after Pearl Harbor. Every man and woman knew they would be called upon to serve the national purpose... they learned to live with rationing of gasoline, tires and food... industry shifted to wartime production. Sacrifice then was shared, now there's seemingly a greater premium on sharing emotions. Then and now there was fear, but then shared service to the country overwhelmed fear... and now as then our resolve can lead us to overwhelm our enemies. There could be no more fitting tribute to the victims of September 11th... and December 7th.