I hope you enjoy the song “Other Plans”. The song tells a story that is played out in homes across America each time one of our men or women enlists, and puts their own life at risk to ensure our continued freedom.

Many of you download music everyday from the internet, but rarely are you able to make a public tribute to our men and woman in uniform at the same time. Now, you can do both. When you download the song “Other Plans”, you not only get a song that you can enjoy, but you are also able to make a public tribute in honor of a soldier or veteran. Your personal tribute will be published on our website immediately on the view tributes page. The tributes will be listed alphabetically by the soldier’s last name, so it will be easy for your favorite soldier to find his or her name and see that you have taken the time to show your support, encouragement and love. And for our veterans, making a tribute in their honor is a great way to say thank you.

I wrote the lyrics to “Other Plans” when my cousin, Sergeant John “Riley” Butler, enlisted into the Army. Riley is now on his second tour of duty in Iraq and he is in our thoughts and prayers each day. I am indebted to Owen Poteat, the man who both sings and composed the music for the song “Other Plans”. Owen is an award winning solo blues and folk entertainer who hails from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. His music spreads across many spectrums of genres with acoustic blues being at the heart and soul of everything he does. Not only did Owen agree to take a shot at putting my lyrics to music, but he had some great ideas on how to improve the lyrics. The lyrics you hear in the final version of “Other Plans” are as much mine as they are his. For more information about Owen or his music visit his website, www.OwenPoteat.com.

I hope that you enjoy this website, and that you take the time to make a tribute to our troops. The troops need our support, and we all know they’ve earned it.

Yours truly,

Patrick J. Loughren
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
soldiersmeanmore@gmail.com