Flyleaf Gain New Appreciation for Troops After Afghanistan Visit

Flyleaf recently returned from a performance for the troops in Afghanistan. If it taught lead singer Lacey Sturm anything, it's to appreciate the freedom of U.S. residents. "It was amazing," Sturm told Noisecreep about the experience at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan and Forward Operating Base Baylough in southern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border.

"It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us. Something we can never forget. When you watch the news, of course it's all skewed in one direction or another, depending on who's doing the story. It seems all chaotic and confusing, the war. When you're there in the middle of all these great focused, amazing people, you see that they're clear headed and really focused. They know what they're there for."

Sturm, whose band releases its sophomore effort 'Memento Mori' on Oct. 27, explained the troops are confident in their ability to protect the United States and that made her feel safe. "It just gave me the most secure feeling and just so much pride of our military," Sturm said. "I'm so proud of those guys. I'm so proud of what they're doing over there. I heard it so many times from so many different soldiers, 'We're here so that you guys can be safe enough at home to travel, play music and have fun. You don't have to work about another 9/11 or anything like that.' It's really cool for them to be so focused and so willing to do that for everybody at home. You could see it in their faces. They're just genuine. That was very sobering.

"We [as Americans] complain a lot, and we don't realize how much of a relief it is and how much of a privilege it is for us to be here and not worry about being blown up by terrorists or something," she continued. "That was something that we really felt when we came back. We got stuck there for a couple days longer than we intended. We ended up being there 12 days instead of 10. When we got back, we were driving down the road. That was the one thing we talked about; just being grateful that we can drive down the road and not look over to the mountains over there and worry that there terrorists."