While many describe September 11, 2001 as the end of America's seemingly impenetrable shelter from foreign invaders, the real wake-up call occurred 70 years ago today when the Japanese attacked U.S. Naval forces stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Similar to the reaction on 9/11, the nation was completely surprised by the audacity of Japan's fighter pilots who bombed U.S. sailors with impunity.

By the time the surprise attack ended, 2,402 Americans had been killed. The Japanese also sunk four battleships with many trapped on board and destroyed 188 aircraft.

The causalities and damage were so extensive that President Franklin Rooseveltdecided to withhold the information for weeks in an effort to build morale while the nation shook itself from its collective state of shock to enter separate conflicts in the Pacific and Europe in what became World War II.

After Roosevelt's "a day that will live in infamy" speech on December 8th, millions enlisted in the military, ending America's isolationist policies and starting the nation's transformation to an international super power.