A pair of Indiana firefighters were hailed for their quiet act of patriotism when they returned an American flag that was blown off a man’s porch.
Cody MacLeod and Bryan Haskel, two firefighters with the South Bend Fire Department, stopped during a cruise through a quaint neighborhood when they spotted an American flag that was torn off its pole, according to WSMV 4.
The duo retrieved the flag and took extra care arranging it in a traditional military-style fold. They laid it on the porch near its pole, which snapped in unseasonably high winds, and continued on with their shift without giving their act much thought.
Homeowner Tyler Gillean was at the airport when his Ring camera sensed activity on his front porch. He checked the live feed through the app and watched in awe as MacLeod and Haskel diligently returned his flag.
“How they cared for it, set it here so delicately, is just amazing. That’s the type of people we have serving the South Bend fire department,” Gillean told NBC News.
MacLeod and Haskel, who both hail from military families, didn’t think much of their minutes-long diversion.
“We just have a lot of patriotism and that flag means a lot,” MacLeod told the outlet.
“Once we could figure out where it belongs, I mean, why not just put it back?” Haskel added.
They both chalked up the overwhelming response to their good deed as just another instance of America “coming together and being united.”
“With all the stuff going on in the world right now, it doesn’t hurt to help a neighbor,” MacLeod said.
“Doing a small act of kindness or doing something good for somebody, whether anybody’s watching or not, if everybody did that, the world would be a much better place,” Haskel said.
