His Thoughts Will Be With Oklahoma City

Garth Brooks wants to commemorate another day that shall live ininfamy - April 19, 1995.

While touring the heartland, he sent a letter to country radioand video outlets, asking them to play appropriate music at 9:02 a.m.(CDT) Friday to mark the first anniversary of the Oklahoma Citybombing. A native of Yukon, Okla., Brooks also is a graduate ofOklahoma State University.

"What country radio chooses is up to them," said Brooks, who onFriday will be in the middle of a three-night stand in Miami. "Somehave said they will play `The Change' (his ballad of faith inspiredby the bombing). Others have said they will play Vince Gill's `GoRest High on That Mountain.' "In Chicago, after a moment of silence, WUSN-FM (99.5) andWKXK-FM (94.7) simultaneously will play "The Change" at 9:02 a.m.Friday."So long as we, as a country music family, celebrate orrecognize Oklahoma and the year that they went through, it will beenough for me," Brooks told a Reuters interviewer last week.Brooks rejected the idea of traveling to Oklahoma City on theanniversary."I feel that to be in Oklahoma on the 19th is an extreme honor,and I don't feel I'm worthy of that," he said. "I wasn't there whenit happened. . . . That day should be for the victims, for thesurvivors and for the volunteers. . . . If Garth Brooks goes down,to me it looks like Garth Brooks is trying to cash in on something,so I'm going to stay far away and just let them know that, likemillions of others, I'm there in spirit."