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Shelly Slater reports.

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This July 4th, it's all about honoring the families who have given so much.

On Saturday, one local soldier was thrilled to finally be home.

You may recognize him - or at least his pink boxers - that received worldwide attention.

Zachary Boyd is back from Afghanistan and hitting up Woolley's Frozen Custard - his favorite ice cream spot.

A Woolley's shirt, paired with those famous pink shorts, put Boyd's name on the worldwide map.

He was asleep when he got the call - friendly units needed help.

"A friendly unit got pinned down, so we had to go help them, so they could get up," he said.

The president commended Boyd but back at home, his parents had a different initial reaction.

"The first time I saw it, I started laughing out loud. But the more it goes, I realized this shows the character of the guys who are there," said his father, Tommy Boyd.

Boyd has autographed his Woolley's shirt to hang on the wall, near all the other pictures of people from all over the world.

"We started out wanting one little picture and now it has gone viral," said his mother, Sheree Boyd.

"People look me up on Facebook all the time from all over the world, from China, Austria, and different places like that," said Zachary Boyd.

"When I first saw it, I thought 'oh this is something comedic, it may last a day or two,' but every time he's shown on TV, it explodes again," said Tommy Boyd.

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Boyd has autographed his Woolley's shirt to hang on the wall.

But for Zachary, it's not about all the attention.

It's about what the pink boxers did for his unit.

"Of course they gave me hard time, that helped the morale at our strip a little bit," he said.

Those boxers will continue to be part of history, as they are being put in a military museum for people to see for years to come.

E-mail sslater@wfaa.com.