‘It made me proud’: Army veteran connects with child who saluted on his doorbell camera

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA/Gray News) - A simple sign of respect captured on a Ring door camera has captured the heart of a veteran in Texas.

While passing out business cards for her father’s lawn care company, 11-year-old Zaireaa Robertson came up to Billy Miles’s front door and paused before saluting. The gesture took just a few seconds, but its effect is impossible to measure.

“I cannot tell you what it means. Because it’s that proudful,” Miles said. “For a small child to understand what she’s saluting. It made me proud.”

Miles said he is an Army Ranger veteran of the 1st and 75th Ranger Battalion.

“I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing from an 11-year-old child,” Miles said. “It’s a lot of respect and it means a lot to a veteran.”

After he saw what his Ring camera caught, Miles knew what he had to do.

“When I saw her saluting I thought, ‘I have got to get ahold of these people,’” he said.

Miles was able to use the business card Zaireaa had left behind for her dad.

“That’s how it happened. I just called him up and talked to him ... And I said, ‘Your daughter’s amazing,’” he said.

And then, he had the chance to talk to Zaireaa.

“I hugged her neck and told her how proud I was of her ... While I was bawling,” Miles said.

It’s a meeting that shows that sometimes the smallest gestures have the biggest impact.

“There’s great in everybody. And there’s a whole lot of great in that young lady right there. A whole lot of great. And I hope she, maybe one day, can salute the flag in a uniform,” Miles said.

Zaireaa’s family’s business is the Ground Maintenance Wizards based in Midland.