Every time Master Sgt. John Egbert goes up on a bombing mission in Afghanistan he knows there are lives saved and lives ended.

It comforts him after he lands to hear the sweet music on YourLDSRadio.com, so much so that the Air Force pilot from Sandy, Utah, decided to fly a flag for the station and give it to them as a thank you when he returned stateside.

Friday, June 26, he did just that.



With emotion choking his voice, Egbert tried to describe what the music means to troops in combat to station manager Dave Dalley and program manager Sam Payne.

"It just brings peace," Egbert said. "It's amazing how much your spirit gets lifted by the music."

"Well then, we'll just keep doing it," Payne said. "It is a great pleasure and honor partly because we knew and we hoped that we were providing hope and comfort through our efforts. This is just such a tangible reminder. It's a heck of a shot in the arm."

YourLDSRadio.com has been available on the Internet since Nov. 2008. The station features contemporary LDS artists from Jon Schmidt to Cherie Call to Jessie Clark Funk to Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band.

Egbert found it online one day after he typed in "LDS" onto his computer.

"Once I found it, I said, 'This is a keeper.' I love this stuff," he said.

Egbert said it's a custom to buy and fly flags on their planes that can be given to soldier's families for special events.

It occurred to him that it would be a nice way to show the station owners how much the music means to soldiers in service.

"This flag has actually flown five times with us, mostly in the Khost area," Egbert said.
"You're out in combat. You know lives are at stake. You concentrate so hard. People would die everytime we took off, good guys and bad guys. It's kind of a humbling experience. Our main job is to save the lives of our troops and get our troops home safely while providing some freedom for Afghans. You concentrate for 12 to 17 hours and come back exhausted. To come back and listen to the station, it's good.

"We're sharing it with more than just LDS troops," he added.

Egbert also presented the station management with a national flag of Afghanistan that had been given to him by an Afghani man who told him he saved his life.

Payne has posted a blog entitled "Amid the Woes of War" on the station's site describing the correspondence between he and Egbert along with pictures of his jet and members of the Bagram Branch in Afghanistan.

E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com