Canadian country singer talks about her trip to Afghanistan

My dream of performing for our Troops began many years ago. Being born in a military town (Gander, NL), it was instilled in me as a child to always appreciate those who are in the Canadian Forces and as a proud Canadian, I give thanks to those people everyday in my prayers.

I had been constantly asking my label to send me overseas so that I could at least say thank you to those men and women that sacrifice so much for our beautiful country. This dream came true Oct 6, 2011 as we left Canada and flew to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

We stayed in KAF and were given many tours around the base. We shot guns, we shook hands and we made friends.

Every night, I found myself in bed sleepless, thinking of the many battles and hardships that my new friends had gone through and still are going through. Being face to face with death, having lost friends and loved ones and many that will never be able to have the memories of death & fear leave their minds. I would lay there and ask myself, "why am I so lucky?" Answer = Our Soldiers.

I visited a place called Role 3, which is a state of the art hospital located on the base. There we saw injured soldiers and Afghan children. I wanted to crawl in the corner and cry myself into another world. My life was forever changed from that moment. We as Canadians sometimes complain about the stupidest shit. Our food doesn't come out perfectly at a restaurant, the weather is too hot or too cold, being stuck in traffic..blah blah blah.

We are spoiled. When something isn't going right during your day, think about the soldier who is face to face with gunfire. The Soldier who had to leave his new born baby and wife to fight for you to live so free in Canada and the Soldier who didn't come home because he was a target of the Taliban.

My favourite saying is "If you don't stand behind our Troops, try standing in front of them". Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the courageous & brave men and women of the Canadian Military who give their all for us. We are so blessed to be Canadian. God Bless you & your families.

Tara Oram Gander, NL

For more information about Tara you can visit here her Facebook page "Tara Oram - The Music and Me" and TaraOram.com