Justin Cole Moore Paid Tribute To Fallen Soldiers

With a big Brad Paisley opening followed by Tim McGraw screaming "Truck Yeah" in some seriously hot leather pants, the iHeartRadio Country Festival got off like the big kind of country party you'd hope for in Austin, Texas — but along with the party, Justin Cole Moore brought things back around to one of country's most heartfelt traditions: recognizing America's troops. Moore took the stage to sing "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away," a song that's more broadly about the people you lose and mourn throughout life, but the singer made it clear that this particularly important performance was dedicated to "the military men and women who never made it back home for us."

Before singing, Moore told the iHeartRadio audience that if heaven wasn't so far away, he "might just go up there and sing it to them [himself]," and asked the thousands of people there to stand up and hold up whatever lighters, cellphones, or flashlights they had so that they could light up the room in honor of those fallen men and women. And in case the audience was feeling hesitant, Moore had this assurance: "Ain't nobody too cool to do this for our military, I promise ya." And they weren't — the arena lit up like a Christmas tree in memory of the soldiers we've lost.

Moore capped the performance off with the symbolic gesture of hanging his white cowboy hat on the mic stand.

Later, Big and Rich came out to remind the larger audience at home that iHeartRadio teamed up two years ago with the Show Your Stripes organization that puts returning vets back into the workforce.

Image: iHeartRadio/Twitter