Jack Buck: Soldier, Broadcaster, American Voice

The confusion likely stems from the proximity of both men at Remagen and the similar-sounding unit numbers. This must be corrected in all documentary materials to maintain historical accuracy. Wikipedia

The 276th Infantry Regiment was part of the 70th Infantry Division ("Trailblazers"), which operated in an entirely different sector during the Remagen period—fighting in Alsace, not at the Rhine crossing.

John Francis Buck was born August 21, 1924, in Holyoke, Massachusetts. His family moved to Cleveland in 1939. Before the war, Buck worked as a porter, night cook, and deckhand on the Great Lakes ore steamer The Sheadle for Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company. SABR

Buck wanted to join the Navy, but color blindness—specifically an inability to differentiate green from brown—disqualified him for naval service. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in June 1943 at age 19.

Training and Stateside Service

Buck's commanding voice—developed hawking newspapers as a youth in Cleveland—led to his selection as an instructor. He also participated in boxing during his stateside service.

The 47th Infantry Regiment had already seen extensive combat before Buck arrived: North Africa, Sicily, Utah Beach (June 10, 1944), the Cotentin Peninsula liberation, the brutal Hürtgen Forest fighting, and the Battle of the Bulge at Eupen. Buck joined as a replacement during the final push into Germany. 9th Infantry Division

The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen was captured intact on March 7, 1945, by the 9th Armored Division's Combat Command B—a stunning development that Allied commanders had hardly dared hope for. The Germans had wired the bridge with approximately 2,800 kg of demolition charges, but when detonation was attempted, only a portion of the civilian-grade "Donarite" explosives detonated. The bridge was damaged but remained standing across the 300-meter width of the Rhine. California Democrat

The 47th Infantry Regiment received orders to reinforce the bridgehead immediately. Buck and his compatriots made a nine-hour forced march over rugged terrain during a rainy, ink-black night to reach Remagen. On the night of March 7-8, 1945, the regiment crossed the bridge under German fire—"showered with shrapnel and shells" according to unit histories.

The 2nd Battalion reached Remagen at 04:00 on March 8 and crossed before first light. The regiment earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for the action.

Seven days after crossing the Rhine, on the morning of March 15, 1945, Squad Leader Jack Buck was leading a patrol in the Remagen bridgehead zone when it came under German artillery or mortar fire. Shrapnel struck Buck in his left forearm and left leg. Source

If dad lifted up his arm, you could see where he had a discernible long scar from his combat injury. If someone were to touch him there, it would cause him to wince in pain.

— Jack Buck Jr. Source

According to his son, the shrapnel fragments narrowly missed a hand grenade hanging from Buck's belt.

Purple Heart and Recovery

Buck received the Purple Heart at the 177th General Army Hospital in Le Mans, France, where he recovered from his wounds over several weeks. He rejoined his unit after Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945, spending V-E Day in Paris on a two-day pass.

The Army encouraged Buck to remain in service and pursue Officer Candidate School, but he declined. He received discharge orders in April 1946 with the rank of Corporal. Using the GI Bill, he enrolled at Ohio State University that fall, majoring in radio speech with a minor in Spanish—the foundation for his broadcasting career. SABR

K Company's only remaining combat medic on March 15, 1945 was Frank Borghi, a 19-year-old from The Hill neighborhood of St. Louis. The other medic had already been wounded. Borghi administered battlefield first aid that, according to Buck's daughter Beverly Buck Brennan, "saved my father's arm from having to be amputated." Wikipedia

Neither Buck nor Borghi realized they had crossed paths until decades later, when they met at a St. Louis banquet. The two men discovered their connection through conversation about their service.

Warren Spahn served with the 276th Engineer Combat Battalion, 1159th Engineer Combat Group—a combat engineer unit with a mission distinct from Buck's infantry regiment. Spahn enlisted December 3, 1942, at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, eventually reaching Staff Sergeant rank before receiving a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant on June 1, 1945.

We were surrounded in the Hurtgen Forest and had to fight our way out of there. Our feet were frozen when we went to sleep and they were frozen when we woke up. We didn't have a bath or change of clothes for weeks.

— Warren Spahn

The 276th Engineer Combat Battalion arrived at Remagen on March 9, 1945—two days after the bridge's capture and one day after Buck crossed. Their mission: remove German demolition charges, repair the damaged Ludendorff Bridge, and construct a secondary Bailey bridge for two-way traffic.

We went up at midnight, get in an hour's work, and then started ducking German shells. We pulled back and went in later. Every time we went in they'd throw more shells.

— Warren Spahn, 1950 interview

Timeline Comparison at Remagen

Both men were wounded within 24 hours of each other—Buck on March 15, Spahn on March 16 (shrapnel to the left foot). Spahn described leaving the bridge just minutes before its collapse:

We talked in the middle of the bridge awhile, then we left. It wasn't 10 minutes later that the bridge collapsed. It sounded like machine guns blasting as the rivets came loose.

— Warren Spahn

Both received Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars. Spahn also received a Presidential Unit Citation for the 276th Engineer Combat Battalion's actions at Remagen. Spahn remains the only MLB player to receive a battlefield commission.

Jack Buck did not grow up on The Hill. He was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and his family moved to Cleveland in 1939. His connection to The Hill came later—and was intentional.

In 1954, after joining the St. Louis Cardinals broadcasting team, Buck deliberately chose to move to Elizabeth Avenue on The Hill, specifically because it was the street where Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola had grown up across from each other. A historical marker at 5405 Elizabeth Avenue notes Buck's choice.

The Hill's WWII Sacrifice

The Hill's Italian-American community traces to the 1880s-1920s, when immigrants from Lombardy and Sicily arrived to work the clay mines and brickyards. By 1910, the population was 90% Italian.

More than 1,020 men from The Hill served in WWII; 23 did not return. The community grew anxious during the war because Italy was the enemy, and residents wanted to be seen as loyal Italian Americans. The names of the fallen are memorialized on a bronze plaque in St. Ambrose Church and on a column in Piazza Imo.

The Hill's Most Remarkable WWII-Baseball Connection

Frank Borghi provides the link: the medic from The Hill who saved Jack Buck's arm at Remagen, earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, landed at Utah Beach on D-Day, fought through the Battle of the Bulge—then stood in goal five years later as the U.S. shocked England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup.

Four of the five St. Louisans on that 1950 World Cup team came from The Hill: Borghi, Charlie Colombo, Gino Pariani, and Frank "Pee Wee" Wallace.

Buck's broadcasting career spanned 1954-2001 with the St. Louis Cardinals, interrupted only briefly (1959-60 when he was fired after Buddy Blattner joined the booth, and 1976 when he hosted NBC's Grandstand). After Harry Caray's dismissal following the 1969 season, Buck became the principal announcer. Baseball Hall of Fame

Ford C. Frick Award — 1987

The National Baseball Hall of Fame presents the Ford C. Frick Award annually for major contributions to baseball in broadcasting. Buck was the 11th recipient.

You golf, swim, and shoot pool during the day, go to the park and b.s. a little before the game, do it, and go home. It's real tough.

— Jack Buck at Cooperstown, characteristically self-deprecating

Iconic Calls

Beyond Baseball

Buck called 17-18 Super Bowls (more than any announcer), including the 1967 Ice Bowl, where he quipped, "Excuse me while I have a bite of my coffee." He was the original voice of the St. Louis Blues (1967) and called the 1968 Stanley Cup Finals.

He and son Joe Buck remain the only father-son duo to call Super Bowl play-by-play.

Honors

• Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Award (1996)
• National Radio Hall of Fame (1995)
• Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (1980)
• American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame (1990)
• Inaugural class, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum (2014)
• Missouri Sportscaster of the Year — 22 times

Six days after the September 11 attacks, Major League Baseball returned with a game at Busch Stadium. Jack Buck, 77 years old and visibly frail from lung cancer and Parkinson's disease, insisted on addressing the crowd. FanBuzz

Dad, you can't do this, you're going to break down.

— Joe Buck, attempting to dissuade his father

I'm not going to cry. I'll bet you $100.

— Jack Buck's response

Before 32,000 fans and 500 firefighters and police officers lining the diamond, Buck read his poem "For America":

He concluded: "I don't know about you, but as for me, the question has already been answered: Should we be here? Yes!"

Buck delivered the poem without breaking down—only Joe was crying. ESPN later ranked the moment #98 on its list of the 100 most memorable moments in sports of the past 25 years. Commissioner Bud Selig credited Buck with "bringing baseball back." FOX Sports

Everything he had done in his life had led to that moment and gave him the credibility to deliver it and have it be as impactful as it was... For a guy who was in World War II and bled for his country... that's probably the most proud I've ever been of him.

— Joe Buck St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Final Days

It was Buck's last major public appearance. He died June 18, 2002, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, approximately one hour after Joe rushed from the broadcast booth to tell his father the Cardinals had won, putting them in first place.

An unprecedented 10,000 mourners paid respects at Busch Stadium, where his casket rested at home plate with a Budweiser Clydesdale standing guard—the largest baseball send-off since Babe Ruth lay in state at Yankee Stadium in 1948.

Jack Buck was buried with full military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, not far from Frank Borghi, the medic from The Hill who had saved his arm at Remagen 57 years earlier.

Primary Written Sources

Military Unit Histories

Regional Archives

Video/Audio Archives

On Identity

• "My dad was many things—husband, father, journalist and sports fan. But I believe that in his mind, he was always a soldier first." — Beverly Buck Brennan
• "At the end of his life, when he was at home and I'd walk in, if there wasn't a football game on to watch, there was something on World War II that he was watching... I think it completely shaped it." — Joe Buck

On Combat

• "My father had been in foxholes when friends were injured and killed. I really believe that speaking about World War II with other veterans was really therapeutic for him." — Beverly Buck Brennan
• "We determined that he was the medic who bandaged me the morning I was hit. That's unbelievable." — Jack Buck on discovering Borghi connection

On Gratitude

• "Carole once asked me what I would say if I met the Lord and my answer then is the same as it is now. I want to ask Him why He was so good to me." — Jack Buck, autobiography closing

On September 11, 2001

• "I don't know about you, but as for me, the question has already been answered: Should we be here? Yes!" — Jack Buck
• "Everything he had done in his life had led to that moment and gave him the credibility to deliver it and have it be as impactful as it was." — Joe Buck

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