Carrie Underwood Brings Baby Bump to Washington, D.C., Performs at Veterans Day Concert and Pens Powerful Essay

Pregnant Carrie Underwood wowed the crowd at The Concert For Valor in Washington, D.C. on Veterans Day, singing a song that has brought comfort and hope to scores of military families, and also recently shared a touching personal story to mark the bittersweet holiday.

The 31-year-old country star showcased a winter wonderland-inspired look on stage at The National Mall, wearing a black, long sleeve, empire waist, flowy, tuxedo-collar coat dress with a speckled skirt that draped over her growing baby bump, paired with an ivory scarf and black, stiletto over-the-knee suede boots. She is expecting her first child, a baby boy, with husband Mike Fisher, 34, in spring 2015.

Tuesday's Veterans Day concert aired on HBO and also featured performances from Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Zac Brown Band, Metallica, The Black Keys, Rihanna, Eminem and fellow American Idol alum and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson.

Underwood sang her 2013 single "See You Again," her 2006 hit "Before He Cheats" and her new song "Something in the Water," backed by the Singing Sergeants of the U.S. Air Force, Time magazine reported.

The first song bears a special meaning for many of her American fans whose loved ones are serving their country overseas.

Underwood has performed for U.S. troops in Kuwait, Iraq and at home and has often met with members of the military and the spouses of servicemen and women deployed abroad. In a Veterans Day essay published in Time, she wrote that she "never dreamed" that so many people who relate so powerfully to "See You Again," which many view as "a song about moving on after the death of a loved one."

She talked about how "one brave girl and her mother" had bought tickets to one of her shows for their family.

"The girl's father was supposed to be home from deployment by the time the show rolled around," she wrote. "Tragically, he never made it."

Underwood met with the woman and her daughter.

"The mother told me the story that I already knew, and told me how much 'See You Again' meant to them," the singer wrote. "I could tell that they both had amazing faith that the most important man in their lives was looking down on them and waiting for them. I guess hearing it in a song solidified that belief a little more."

"I am still amazed at how strong they both were," she said. "They might have found a little comfort in one of my songs. But because of their story and the many others like it that I have heard since, I'll never sing that song the same way again."