MAD 2012

Military Appreciation Day, Inc. is excited to announce MAD 7! In 2012 the volunteers at MAD, Inc. will host two events in North Carolina. On Saturday, June 2 we will once again convene in Morehead City for our large early summer event. Volunteers are needed for cooking crews, site set up and clean up and especially volunteer boaters. Our goal for MAD 7 Morehead City is to set an attendance record of over 1000!

Our fall event at Oak Island will occur in September and although the date has not yet been finalized we fully expect to smash all previous attendance records! The MAD team is working with many new volunteers in the Southport/Oak Island area to make MAD 7 Oak Island the largest event in the history of Southeastern North Carolina!

With hard work and a little bit of luck, 2012 will see more boots in boats than any year in MAD history!

Thank you for continuing to support Military Appreciation Day!

What is Military Appreciation Day?

Military Appreciation Day is an event organized by volunteers to provide a day of fishing for our Active Duty Military, Guard and Reservists. The event also includes activities for their families and a southern style cookout.

WE NEED YOU!

Our events are organized and managed by a group of dedicated volunteers and we need more! If you would like to volunteer to help us Thank Those Who Serve America, click on the Volunteer tab above.

We also need donations to help pay for these events for our heroes. No amount is too small! If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to MAD, click on the Donate tab above.

History of Military Appreciation Day

In February of 2006 a newspaper in Wilmington, NC published a story about restaurants that were refusing entry to a group of Marines who had just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Rodney Carroll, Dan Smith and John Polosky were outraged and decided to do something about it!

Within a few weeks they raised almost $1000 and with the help of a donated van and a few marines they set forth on a mission to change this policy and pay tribute to those who have served America.

As they visited these restaurants and spent time with these young marines they were overwhelmed with the desire to show appreciation for our true American Heroes and thus the idea for Military Appreciation Day was born!

Within two short months, all of the planning for the event was completed and on May 20, 2006 men and women from all five branches of the Armed Services arrived for the First Annual Military Appreciation Day or MAD1.

The 225 service men and women who ventured out in volunteer and chartered vessels were greeted by pouring rain and howling winds, but the spirit of the day was not diminished as volunteers from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania were on hand for one reason...

One, Simple, THANKS!