5-Year-Old Becomes Patriotic Celebrity After Doorbell Cam Catches His Pledge to American Flag
Those internet-connected doorbell cameras are supposed to catch suspicious activity — or, on the other hand, to tell us when something isn’t suspicious. They can differentiate between a burglar and a deliveryman, a sneak or a squirrel.
The technology wasn’t meant to capture the kind of moments that turn a 5-year-old into a viral celebrity. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened to Preston Satterthwaithe.
Preston is the Virginia tyke who became an internet sensation after his family’s Ring doorbell caught him reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in front of the American flag.
During an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Monday, Preston’s father, Mike Satterthwaithe, said it all began when they put a new flag up around Independence Day.
“As we were installing it [the American flag], I was explaining the importance of why we respect the flag and how we could never let it hit the ground,” Satterthwaithe said.
The boy apparently understood the importance of Old Glory — so much so that he ended up crying when the family’s flag was torn down in an apparent act of vandalism.
“Preston was pretty upset that the flag was touching the ground,” Satterthwaithe said.
His wife advised him to install a Ring camera, which he did. Yet the most interesting thing it captured wasn’t a burglar or vandal but an adorable clip featuring the patriotic tyke.
Preston’s father told Washington’s WRC-TV that it all happened when he lost track of the youngster.
“I was putting his bike away in the garage and I turned around and he wasn’t there,” Satterthwaithe said.
“I started screaming for him and he came running back.”
When he checked the camera several hours later, Satterthwaithe found the video of his son pledging allegiance to the American flag.
“That’s why you hear him say, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming,'” he said.
The video was posted online and quickly went viral.
“I was floored,” Satterthwaithe said. “The thoughtfulness of him to go and do that on his own is pretty cool.”
“We’ve taught him the significance of America and why people want to move here and our freedoms, and he wanted to learn about that,” Preston’s father said. “It’s a pretty neat little moment.”
It is — and a lesson in raising your children right.
Remember, your son or daughter isn’t always going to learn the Pledge of Allegiance in school. Preston did, but your child might not.
They’re also probably not going to learn about the flag and the kinds of sacrifices that were made for it. They’re not going to learn about the Flag Code and proper care.
These are the kinds of values that the Satterthwaithes have instilled in their progeny, and they’re the kinds of values we should all consider instilling.
As for Preston, he had a bit of an endorsement for the nation that the flag stands for: “The United States is the best country ever.”
We concur.
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