On a beautiful sunny day in Morehead City, NC, a band of dedicated volunteers gathered to Thank Those Who Serve America.
On Saturday, June 7th, Military Appreciation Day III (MAD III) took place on the waterfront in Morehead City, NC.
The MAD organization and its dedicated 200 volunteers took 300 troops and family members out for a beautiful day of fishing and entertained another 100 troops and family members with shore based activities at the Morehead City Park and the Jaycee Park.
MAD, Inc. chartered both the Carolina Princess and the Continental Shelf for the event while another 62 private boats were provided by MAD volunteers.
Shore based activities included kid fishing at the docks, site seeing tours of the MHC waterfront provided by Mystery Tours, Moon Walk tent, face painting, snow cones, popcorn and cotton candy. |
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The MAD volunteers provided a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs at the City Park.
It was a great day of fishing with catches of dolphin, kings, Spanish, snapper, grouper, sea bass, and even a sailfish! The sailfish was caught aboard the Reel Trouble, captained by Mark Vann of Fayetteville, NC. “I got involved with MAD last year because enough isn't done to show our troops that what they do is important to not only to me, but to a large group of people. After seeing the smiles on the faces of all the troops at the cookout, I'll be back for years to come,” said Vann. Vann’s guests were Gunnery Sergeant Jason Marshall and Staff Sergeant Mike Power. Mike Power was the angler on the sail, but landing the fish and releasing it was truly a team effort according to Vann.
After everyone returned from fishing, they were treated to a southern style pig pickin’ with all the trimmings.
The crowd was treated to an acrobatic fly over by Red Eagle Air Sports who were in the area performing at the Cherry Point Air Show.
“It was a great day yesterday, and from my perspective all our heroes and their families enjoyed themselves. Plenty of fishing, food, entertainment and relaxation going on. Every hero I spoke with was very appreciative of what we have done for them,” said Emmit Morehead. Emmit is one of the many dedicated MAD volunteers who works year round to do what he can to help Thank Those Who Serve America. Emmit’s wife, son, father and mother-in-law also worked as volunteers for MAD III.
One of MAD’s honored guest, Captain Tim Doran of the Marines had this to say, “Can't find the words to adequately express me and my family's gratitude for all that you did for us yesterday. I wish we could have stuck around longer but just couldn't. "Support the Troops" has become a fashionable, yet insincere catchphrase that diminishes as this war continues. Few believe in it, and fewer do anything toward it, and you fellas surely did something wonderful yesterday. Our time there is the talk of the house this morning, and me and my children will carry these memories with us forever. Please extend our warm thanks to all that helped out, especially to Nick for being so friendly and patient with the kids.” |
