"I Drive Your Truck," Lee Brice's tearjerker tribute to a man killed in Afghanistan in 2006, won Song of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday night after the Grammy nominated singer took to the stage at the CMAs to perform part of the emotional ballad.
Nashville songwriter Connie Harrington and her team were inspired to write "I Drive Your Truck" after hearing a 2011 radio interview with Paul Monti, the father of Fort Drum soldier and Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti.
Jared Monti was killed in Afghanistan in 2006 after trying to save one of his
fellow soldiers during a massive firefight, according to CNN.
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The song is about how Paul Monti dealt with his son's death — by driving his black Dodge Ram pickup.
"Do you still drive Jared's truck?" a radio interviewer asked the grieving father during that 2011 interview.
"Yes, I do," Monti said. "I just love driving it because it reminds me of him. Though I don't need the truck to remind me of him, I think about him every hour of every day."
"I Drive Your Truck" already scooped up the Song of the Year honor at the Country Music Association Awards back in November, and now the song has another accolade to its credit after Sunday's awards show.
"This is not for me," Brice said Sunday as he pulled Harrington up on stage with him. "It comes from the writers."
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