4Troops Honors Sacrifices of US Military

20 May 2010

Four U.S. Army veterans have come together to honor the sacrifices of American military troops and raise awareness of their needs as part of a new music group, 4Troops.

Rascal Flatts' 2005 Number One Country hit "Bless The Broken Road" is among the songs 4Troops covered on their self-titled debut album.

4Troops consists of United States combat veterans Sergeant Daniel Jens, who was a 2008 finalist on "America's Got Talent;" retired Staff Sergeant Ron Henry; Sergeant David Clemo; and Captain Meredith Melcher, the daughter of a retired three-star General. Performing music played an important role in their lives while serving in the military. The four were brought together by veteran Victor Hurtado, Production Director for the Army Soldier Show.

"It's basically entertainment by soldiers for soldiers," said Meredith Melcher, who was a cast member of the show in 2004.

"It started back in the days of Irving Berlin, so it's been going on for that long. So, that's how we met back in 2004. It's a pretty big show."

This past January, 4Troops signed with Sony Music. Their album was produced by Grammy-winner Frank Fillipetti, who has worked with Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, Elton John, Billy Joel and many others. Group member Daniel Jens says the 11 tracks cover many musical genres.

"There's one original song on there, but most of them are different covers of different genres, from Country to pop to rock, inspirational and patriotic," he said. "It's really an album for everyone."