A student in Pennsylvania College of Technology's surveying technology major performed prior to Saturday's U.S. Championship game at the Little League Baseball World Series.
"It was an honor to sing for my country. I could not believe the crowd's applause," said Dylan T. Lackey, of Mountville, serving in the Army National Guard. "It almost brought a tear to my eye."
Donning his "dress greens," he offered a-cappella renditions of "God Bless America" and the national anthem for the 3 p.m. game between Billings, Mont., and the eventual world-champion team from Huntington Beach, Calif.
Lackey also had the opportunity to talk with retired four-star Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who conducted the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum Hall of Excellence enshrinement of Ross McGinnis, a Clarion Countian who posthumously was awarded a Medal of Honor for bravery in Iraq.
"Great guy – very noble and wise. I was in awe when speaking with him," he said. "What an honor, let alone singing ...for the whole world."
No stranger to public performance, Lackey was among the cast of “tick, tick …BOOM!” on the college's Klump Academic Center stage during the Fall 2008 semester, and he auditioned for at least eight Army personnel on the road to Saturday's assignment in South Williamsport.
"It was incredible," he said of his World Series appearance. "It was everything I thought it would be and more."
