We all could learn a little patriotism from a rising third grader at Indian Springs Elementary School. Last school year he took it upon himself to raise money for a new flag for his school.

The amazing thing about him is that he was an adopted infant from Russia.

News 5 attended the moving flag retirement ceremony at the school Thursday night as they raised his new flag.

Air Force ROTC cadets from Sullivan South High School perform the solemn American flag retirement ceremony at Indian Springs Elementary. Standing by with a new flag is Brayden Templeton. He bought the flag by doing odd jobs to replace the old tattered one that once flew over the school.
"I saved up my money by helping the family and friends," Brayden told us. "I sold some pencils and I helped my papaw put on the lawn mower cover."
In fact he raised somewhere between $50 and $60 for the new flag. Even at this young age, he's a proud American, born in Russia, adopted from an orphanage as an infant.
Rebecca Templeton is Brayden's mother. "It's part of his heritage. I want him to be proud of where he came from but to be even prouder that he's an American, that he has come to a country where can be anything he wants to be," she said.
Eight years after his parents brought him home from Russia and he's still creating excitement as the cadets raise his new flag over his elementary school. "The fllag means a whole lot to me," he said. "America is a free country and Russia is not really free."
He's a proud American with a proud heritage.