Mr Bush drew parallels with the attack on Pearl Harbor
He also said the 11 September terror attacks on New York and Washington "brought out the best" in his country, but warned that the US response was "a long way from finished".
"Much difficult and dangerous work is yet to come," Mr Bush said, adding that allied forces in Afghanistan would now have to tackle Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters holed up in bunkers in rugged terrain.
But he was adamant that the US would prevail.
"One by one we're going to find them and piece by piece we'll tear their terrorist network apart," he said.
Mr Bush described Osama Bin Laden and the other leaders of his al-Qaeda terror network as the heirs of fascism.
"Like all fascists, the terrorists cannot be appeased. They must be defeated," he said.
"This struggle will not end in a truce or a treaty. It will end in victory for the United States, our friends and for the cause of
freedom."
Mr Bush drew parallels between the 11 September attacks and Pearl Harbor.
"The attack on Pearl Harbor was plotted in secrecy, waged without mercy," Mr Bush said.
"Out of that surprise attack grew a steadfast resolve that made America freedom's defender, and that mission - our great calling - continues to this hour as the brave men and women of our military fight the forces of terror in Afghanistan and around the world."
President Bush joined 25 people who witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor and hundreds of uniformed sailors on the deck of the USS Enterprise, until recently the launch pad for American bombing raids in Afghanistan.
"This war came oh so suddenly," Mr Bush said. "But it has brought out the best in our nation. We have learned a lot about ourselves and about our friends in the world."
Trigger for war
Japan's 7 December 1941 attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii killed more than 2,300 US service personnel and civilians, and plunged America into World War II.
The 11 September attacks killed more than 3,000 people and led to the counter-attack on Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation and its Taleban backers in Afghanistan.
"Now, another date will forever stand alongside December 7 - September 11, 2001," President Bush said.
"On that day, our people and our way of life again were brutally and suddenly attacked, though not by a complex military manoeuvre but by the surreptitious wiles of evil terrorists," he said.