"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."
--
Source : Benjamin Harrison (1893). “Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison, Twenty-third President of the United States. March 4, 1889, to March 4, 1893”
