A big-hearted supporter and patriot, Maggie Provine gave Freedom Alliance three weeks’ use of her ocean-front beach house in Nags Head to provide much-needed vacations for wounded military families.
It didn’t take long to find three deserving service members who could really use a week away.
The first week went Matt, a disabled Air Force vet, and his family. Due to combat stress, Matt doesn’t like crowds, and so the off-season at Nags Head was ideal.
He was thrilled by the opportunity to take his wife to the same restaurant where they had celebrated Matt’s proposal of marriage years ago. Today, this couple have two darling daughters, Bailey and Sophie. On one particularly beautiful day, Matt called in a local photographer for a family portrait session.
The next week was taken by Dan, a Marine Corps veteran of three deployments to Iraq. His job while there was to defuse bombs, and consequently, he endured four explosions. In one tragic and severe blast, his entire team was killed. Dan suffers from survivor’s guilt and carries a lot of stress and burden as a result.
Dan; his wife, Susan; and their two children, Amber and Josh, also appreciated the beach house—especially the whirlpool tub! Susan wrote us the night before the trip: “We are packing and ready to leave in the morning! So excited. Thanks for sharing this opportunity with us.” She admitted that Dan appreciated the isolated beaches, shops, and restaurants of Nags Head in the springtime.
And the final week was slated for Joseph, who was being treated at Camp Lejeune for a brain and spinal injury after four deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was just medically retired from the Marine Corps and called this beach week his “retirement vacation.”
He and his wife, Rene, and their three children gratefully accepted the invitation to stay at Maggie’s beach house.
“Just wanted to say thanks for the opportunity at the beach house,” Joe wrote. “We got here yesterday and the family is having a great time!”
What more wonderful way to say “thank you for your service” than by giving away a private beach vacation? Thank you, Maggie, for this amazing privilege, and thanks to our military families for their willingly-given sacrifice.
Related Posts
