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Strange Interference

June 1, 2009 | 3 Comments

Post to the Host:
I just wanted to send a message out to you about the strange way I heard parts of your show recently. I am stationed with the Illinois National Guard in Afghanistan. While on duty I noticed my radio picking up some strange interference. Then I heard the unquestionable sound of your voice. It was then I realized that somehow my communication system was picking up a broadcast of your show. Though I am not sure how this happened, it was nice to be able to listen to the parts that cut in.

Thank you for your show. It is a real treat when I get to hear it (which I guess means when my superiors are trying to contact me).

SGT Patrick J. DeGeorge
Camp Eggers, Afghanistan

This sounds like a scene from a comedy, Sergeant. An American platoon is pinned down by enemy fire on a rocky hillside and the sergeant calls for help and he gets a guy talking about eating rhubarb pie at a church picnic. When we do the show — this week in LA, next week in Cincinnati — we try to imagine the listening audience, and I often think of a trucker crossing Nebraska and picking the show up from three different FM stations in the course of two hours, or I think of people sitting on a back porch in Columbus, Georgia, or an old man in a walk-up apartment in Brooklyn, but I haven't yet imagined troops in Afghanistan. I will now include you in my imagined pantheon of listeners.

Good luck to you and thank you for your service to our country.

3 Comments

Sandy Gilman | June 2, 2009 1:50 PM

Thank you to SGT De George from
San Clemente, Ca.
A Prairie Home Companion
entertains, but also comforts many
of us often.
The show is a part of routine in
an otherwise (sometimes) chaotic
life.
APHC on Saturday, and the St. Clement's
By The Sea Episcopal Church service on
Sunday (8:00 service!), are wonderful
ritualistic parts of life here
in SoCal.
We're looking forward to next week's
show at the Greek Theater!
Sandy
San Clemente

SPC Sally Pruiett | June 9, 2009 2:43 AM

I'm a soldier deployed to Iraq. While I don't get APC on the radio, I do listen to it online. It's so wonderful to be able to hear the voices I grew up listening to. It's like sitting down to a piece of homemade rhubarb pie and savoring every bite. Thanks for broadcasting a little bit of home.

ak scofield | July 4, 2009 1:39 PM

Garrison : Ever thought about performing with a USO show? That would be fantastic!