At the time, even doing this edition of Smackdown was controversial because doing sporting events (even "sports entertainment") was seen as crazy due to the threat of another terrorist attack. But somebody needed to come back, and the world is grateful Vince McMahon made this speech.
Thankfully the WWE was the first back, followed by baseball the following Monday and the NFL after a week off.
Also, here is the National Anthem as sung on September 13, 2001 on WWE/F Smackdown.
Memory hole: Bill Gates actively pushed for Lockdowns.
(twitter.com)
Small Businesses Reducing Workers for the Last Four Months
(mishtalk.com)