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6-year-old's salute to military members goes viral

A picture of a 6-year-old boy saluting military members in a Texas airport has gone viral as online commenters said they were inspired by the youngster's patriotism.

SAN ANTONIO — A picture of a 6-year-old boy saluting military members in a Texas airport has gone viral as online commenters said they were inspired by the youngster's patriotism.

The Vega family was recently returning to San Antonio after a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, when a group of sailors passed them in the airport, WOAI-TV reported. Joe Vega said he was proud to see his son, Jace, stop and salute the group.

PROUD PARENT MOMENT! 🥰🥰 Priscilla Pinales-Vega & Joe Vega sent us this photo of their son at the airport. According to...

Posted by News 4 San Antonio on Sunday, July 21, 2019

Joe Vega said he snapped a picture of Jace, and then asked his son why he saluted.

"Daddy, they protect us," Jace replied.

The first-grader told WOAI-TV he aspires to one day be an Army captain.

The picture of Jace, posted Sunday to WOAI-TV's Facebook page, had more than 1,300 reactions as of Tuesday afternoon.

Commenters wrote about how they were inspired by Jace.

"Best post today ... what a nice little boy. Parents deserve to be very proud," wrote commenter Barb Borgen Vandenberg.

"Thank you young man for your patriotism," wrote Kevin Burke.

A few companies have reached out to the family about making shirts with the picture on it, Joe Vega said.