RALEIGH - Raleigh will host an elaborate state military appreciation day April 26 that may become a model for similar events in other states, organizers said Tuesday.

The Salute to Our Troops day will honor the state's military families and active-duty and reserve troops who all have played an outsized role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The celebration will include a morning parade in downtown Raleigh with personnel carriers and other armored vehicles, mobile missile launchers, marching units from all branches of service and bands, drill teams and honor guards from high schools and universities.

A flyover by F-15 jets from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is planned, and other bases also may send aircraft. There will be displays of weapons, armored vehicles and marine rescue equipment and race cars from at least three NASCAR teams.

Some of North Carolina's more than 120,000 troops are now on their third or even fourth tours of duty. The celebration is a chance for the rest of the state to show its appreciation, said Van Krebs of the N.C. Bankers Association Foundation, one of the organizers.

"These guys have gone through hell, and we wanted them to have a day of their own," said Krebs. "We want to draw 50,000 or 60,000 people to cheer them on and say, 'We appreciate what you're doing.' "

The bankers association and military leaders at the state's major bases have been quietly planning the event for about two months. From the beginning, the celebration got an enthusiastic reception on the military bases.

Maj. Tom Earnhardt, who represented Fort Bragg at the announcement Tuesday, said members of the bankers group came to the base to talk about what they could do to help families who had lost a soldier in combat. During the meeting, association president Thad Woodard broached the idea of the celebration. What would Bragg officials think about that, he wanted to know.

"I said, 'We've just been waiting to be asked,' " Earnhardt said.

The agenda is still considered tentative, but Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, who hosted the news conference for the announcement, said that it would be a great event for downtown Raleigh and one more way to show the country that North Carolina was the state friendliest to the military.

Plans for the event are expected to grow, Krebs said. The different service branches are trying to outdo one another, and a host of sponsors signed on even before the event was formally announced.