It was 82 years ago that the United States suffered the brutal, surprise attack at Pearl Harbor.

            Siting on the sidelines while most of the world was under attack, it was a wake-up call for America.

            The attack was formulated by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.  He was once a student at Harvard University and served as Japan's naval attaché in Washington.

            Feeling that Japan could never outlast the United States in a war of years, he felt the only chance for success would be to stage a surprise attack that would knock the U.S. Naval Fleet out of service for a long period of time.

            So, he planned and he planned for more than a year.  Then it was time.

            Japanese government officials wanted to present the United States with a declaration of war prior to the attack.  Some argue that the warning to the U.S. came too late, others say it was blocked by the Japanese military, which didn't want to jeopardize the operation.  Either way, without a declaration of war the attack was a violation of international law.

            The attack killed more than 2,400 service members and wounded more than 1,100.  The Japanese sank or destroyed six U.S. ships and destroyed more than 160 U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps planes.

            On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a joint address to Congress that led to a declaration of war.

            His opening words were: "Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives.  Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

            Admiral Yamamoto never really said, "I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant" (it was a line in a movie), but the attack was the prod that led to America's active involvement in World War II.

            Just three weeks ago, while addressing the House Committee on Homeland Security, FBI Director Christopher Wray said, "In a year when the terrorism threat was already elevated, the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole other level."

            Those words bring back to mind the horror of what happened on Dec. 7, 1941 and Sept. 11, 2001.

            Let's hope that the Director is wrong.