“I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.
I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.
We honor them in a joyous, THANKFUL, triumphant commemoration of what they did. ” — Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States