Although struggling with lung cancer, legendary baseball broadcaster Jack Buck took the field in one of his final public appearances on Sept. 17, 2001 — the day baseball resumed after the 9/11 attacks.
Buck, who would pass away less than a year later, delivered one of the most spine-tingling, patriotic pieces this national pastime has heard. The 77-year-old concluded the poem by telling critics who felt that baseball returned too soon by stating: “I don’t know about you, but as for me, the question has already been answered: Should we be here? Yes!”
Check out the transcript and video below.
“Since this nation was founded under God
more than 200 years ago,
we’ve been the bastion of Freedom,
the light which keeps the free world aglow.
We do not covet the possessions of others;
we are blessed with the bounty we share.
We have rushed to help other Nations;
anything … anytime … anywhere.
War is just not our nature
We won’t start, but we will end the fight.
If we are involved,
We shall be resolved
To protect what we know is Right.
We’ve been challenged by a cowardly foe,
Who strikes and then hides from our view.
With one voice we say,
‘We have no choice today,
There is only one thing to do.’
Everyone is saying the same thing and praying,
That we end these senseless moments we are living.
As our fathers did before,
We shall win this unwanted war,
And our children will enjoy the future we’ll be giving.”
