If we look back in our country’s history, there are many parallels that can be drawn between the Pearl Harbor Day attack and the 9/11 attacks.

So said Keith “Jake” Boyer, a U.S. Air Force veteran and retired school superintendent, who spoke during the Pearl Harbor Day Program Wednesday afternoon at the World War II Memorial on Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard.“Today we gather to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor,” Boyer told an impressive turnout of guests who braved the chilly air to attend the program hosted by the Lehighton United Veterans Organization.Boyer told the crowd that he was honored to have been asked to speak “about a day in our history, which is so painful to remember ..., but a day which no American should ever forget, Dec. 7, 1941 ... a day America was caught by surprise and forever changed.”“It was a day preceded by vague warnings, bureaucratic breakdowns, and, a failure in understanding the nature and threat of a foreign enemy,” he said.While not many of those in attendance experienced that day firsthand, Boyer noted that most of us experienced a “horrifically similar day” on Sept. 11, 2001.“Those of you who know me will understand that while I believe it’s important to honor lives lost, important to remember those days of infamy, it does us little good, as a nation, unless along with the commemoration, we have education,” Boyer said. “That is, we must learn the lessons that cost the lives of so many — both military and civilian.”Boyer acknowledged several important milestones, including the first, 10th, 20th, 50th, and 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.He said the goals and the lessons are much the same.“We fight to protect ourselves and our children from violence and fear. We fight for the security of our people and the success of liberty. We fight against men without conscience. We fight to win, and win we will. We will be relentless in the pursuit of freedom.” Video:

https://www.facebook.com/tnlehighton/videos/1178184592218337/