--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On Decoration Day, while everyone else in…" description: "\"On Decoration Day, while everyone else in town was at the cemetery decorating the graves of our Glorious War Dead, Willie Beaner and me, Robert Burns H..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/katherine-paterson-2365_cemetery_on-decoration-day-while-everyone-else-in_1976304.png" --- # On Decoration Day, while everyone else in town was at the… ![“On Decoration Day, while everyone else in town was at the cemetery decorating the graves of our Glorious War Dead, Willie Beaner and me, Robert Burns Hewitt, took Mabel Cramm's bloomers and run them up the flagpole in front of the town hall. That was the beginning of all my troubles.” quote by Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/katherine-paterson-2365_cemetery_on-decoration-day-while-everyone-else-in_1976304.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/katherine-paterson-2365_cemetery_on-decoration-day-while-everyone-else-in_1976304.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/katherine-paterson-2365_cemetery_on-decoration-day-while-everyone-else-in_1976304.png) > “On Decoration Day, while everyone else in town was at the cemetery decorating the graves of our Glorious War Dead, Willie Beaner and me, Robert Burns Hewitt, took Mabel Cramm's bloomers and run them up the flagpole in front of the town hall. That was the beginning of all my troubles.” [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A youthful act of rebellion against solemn tradition sparks lasting consequences. **In simple terms:** Rebellious prank leads to trouble. Key Takeaway Consider actions before defying norms. Themes rebellion tradition consequences Mood reflective nostalgic Type narrative anecdotal When to use this quote - schoolyard pranks - public ceremonies - family gatherings Key Concepts social conformity personal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What might you have done differently? - How does tradition shape behavior? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper impact on community sentiment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cemetery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery/) [Cemetery Decorating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery-decorating-3346990/) [Decorating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decorating/) [Decorating Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decorating-graves-3346991/) [Decoration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decoration/) [Decoration Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decoration-day-2166837/) [Flagpole Town](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flagpole-town-3346989/) [Flagpoles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flagpoles/) [Glorious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glorious/) [Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graves/) [Halls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/halls/) [Robert Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robert-burns/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Town Cemetery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/town-cemetery-3102297/) [Town hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/town-hall/) [Towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towns/) [Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-dead/) ## Related quotes > [“The graveyard was at the top of the hill. It looked over all of the town. The town was hills - hills that issued…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-graveyard-was-at-the-top-of-the-hill-it-looked-over-all-of-the/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Decoration Day is the most beautiful of our national holidays… The grim cannon have turned into palm branches, and the shell and shrapnel into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/decoration-day-is-the-most-beautiful-of-our-national-holidays-the/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-harrison/i-have-never-been-able-to-think-of-the-day-as-one-of-mourning-i-have/) [Benjamin Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-harrison/) > [Memorial Day is rooted deep in American history and has spanned all of America's major wars since the Civil War. Originally called 'Decoration Day,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-waltz/memorial-day-is-rooted-deep-in-american-history-and-has-spanned-all/) [Michael Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-waltz/) > [Every family has a story that it tells itself, that it passes on to the children and grandchildren. The story grows over the years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/every-family-has-a-story-that-it-tells-itself-that-it-passes-on-to/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [I see that the flagpole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/i-see-that-the-flagpole-still-stands-have-your-troops-hoist-the/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [She was too much—for Zenith, Ohio. She’d tried at times to make herself smaller, to fit neatly into the ordered lines of expectation. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/she-was-too-much-for-zenith-ohio-she-d-tried-at-times-to-make-herself/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [Using Viagra is like putting a new flagpole on a condemned building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-korman/using-viagra-is-like-putting-a-new-flagpole-on-a-condemned-building/) [Harvey Korman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-korman/) > [“The few trees still upright were stripped of their branches, lonely flagpoles without a nation to claim them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mullin/the-few-trees-still-upright-were-stripped-of-their-branches-lonely/) [Mike Mullin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mullin/) > [Actually, we're just glorified flagpole sitters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-harding/actually-we-re-just-glorified-flagpole-sitters/) [Warren G. Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-harding/) > [The "Wet Tongue Gets Stuck To A Frozen Flagpole" attack!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiromu-arakawa/the-wet-tongue-gets-stuck-to-a-frozen-flagpole-attack/) [Hiromu Arakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiromu-arakawa/) > [I said I'm going to hit the next one right over the flagpole. God must have been with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babe-ruth/i-said-i-m-going-to-hit-the-next-one-right-over-the-flagpole-god-must/) [Babe Ruth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babe-ruth/) > [Aw, everybody knows that game, the day I hit the homer off ole Charlie Root there in Wrigley Field, the day October first, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babe-ruth/aw-everybody-knows-that-game-the-day-i-hit-the-homer-off-ole-charlie/) [Babe Ruth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babe-ruth/) ## More by Katherine Paterson > [ He \[an earnest young reporter\] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/he-an-earnest-young-reporter-seemed-to-share-the-view-of-many/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [“You're the proverbial diamond in the rough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/you-re-the-proverbial-diamond-in-the-rough/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [We do have trouble dealing with death, but it's the one thing that is guaranteed we are all going to have to do, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/we-do-have-trouble-dealing-with-death-but-it-s-the-one-thing-that-is/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [Everybody gets scared sometimes, May Belle. You don't have to be ashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/everybody-gets-scared-sometimes-may-belle-you-don-t-have-to-be-ashamed/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [Obviously, I love to do both contemporary and historical fiction. When a hint of a story grabs me, I try to go with it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/obviously-i-love-to-do-both-contemporary-and-historical-fiction-when/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [I love revisions...We can't go back and revise our lives, but being allowed to go back and revise what we have written comes closest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/i-love-revisions-we-can-t-go-back-and-revise-our-lives-but-being/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [I woke up one morning and realized that what I wanted to say to everyone - children, young people, adults - was: Read for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/i-woke-up-one-morning-and-realized-that-what-i-wanted-to-say-to/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [Our fundamental task as human beings is to seek out connections-to exercise our imaginations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/our-fundamental-task-as-human-beings-is-to-seek-out-connections-to/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [a work that intends to be art must first be entertaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/a-work-that-intends-to-be-art-must-first-be-entertaining/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [I do know that I need solitude, not only to write but to nourish myself (being, like most writers, an introvert) so that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/i-do-know-that-i-need-solitude-not-only-to-write-but-to-nourish/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [Everything comes in useful once in a hundred years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/everything-comes-in-useful-once-in-a-hundred-years/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [“I had no study in those days, not even a desk or file or bookcase to call mine alone…It might have happened sooner \[the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/i-had-no-study-in-those-days-not-even-a-desk-or-file-or-bookcase-to/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/the-challenge-for-those-of-us-who-care-about-our-faith-and-about-a/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [One thing living in Japan did for me was to make me feel that what is left out of a work of art is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/one-thing-living-in-japan-did-for-me-was-to-make-me-feel-that-what-is/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [“We need a place," she said, "just for us. It would be so secret that we would never tell anyone in the whole world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/we-need-a-place-she-said-just-for-us-it-would-be-so-secret-that-we/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) [Explore all 166 Katherine Paterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) ## More Cemetery quotes > [The only people without problems are in cemeteries. If you don't have problems, get on your knees and pray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/the-only-people-without-problems-are-in-cemeteries-if-you-don-t-have/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“In the middle of the cemetery is a grassy plane, strangely vacant. There are no granite tombs or crumbling concrete, just a sun-washed treeless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-caldwell-crosby/in-the-middle-of-the-cemetery-is-a-grassy-plane-strangely-vacant/) [Molly Caldwell Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-caldwell-crosby/) > [If it wasn't for baseball, I'd be in either the penitentiary or the cemetery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babe-ruth/if-it-wasn-t-for-baseball-i-d-be-in-either-the-penitentiary-or-the/) [Babe Ruth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babe-ruth/) > [I am surprised that many people disregard the fact that the end for almost all drug dealers ends up being the cemetery or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-pablo-escobar/i-am-surprised-that-many-people-disregard-the-fact-that-the-end-for/) [Juan Pablo Escobar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-pablo-escobar/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“I visited my old haunt, but somehow without all my old friends there with me, the cemetery just wasn’t the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-visited-my-old-haunt-but-somehow-without-all-my-old-friends-there/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Being president of the University of California is like being manager of a cemetery: there are many people under you, but no one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-yudof/being-president-of-the-university-of-california-is-like-being-manager/) [Mark Yudof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-yudof/) > [We think that a powerful and vigorous movement is impossible without differences - "true conformity" is possible only in the cemetery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/we-think-that-a-powerful-and-vigorous-movement-is-impossible-without/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-cemetery-of-the-victims-of-human-cruelty-in-our-century-is/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [In old grimy streets, in isolated and decaying houses, sometimes far from the Vieux Carre, in little used and secluded cemeteries, there still sluggishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-john-laughlin/in-old-grimy-streets-in-isolated-and-decaying-houses-sometimes-far/) [Clarence John Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-john-laughlin/) > [Cats and dogs believe politicians are like cemetery caregivers; they are on top of everyone, but nobody listens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/cats-and-dogs-believe-politicians-are-like-cemetery-caregivers-they/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [“The atmosphere is always very grave when I walk into a cemetery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-atmosphere-is-always-very-grave-when-i-walk-into-a-cemetery/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Nothing exists except by virtue of a disequilibrium, an injustice. All existence is a theft paid for by other existences; no life flowers except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/nothing-exists-except-by-virtue-of-a-disequilibrium-an-injustice-all/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [ Our agreements on creating the conditions for preparing a peace treaty \[with Japan\] should be rooted in this trust. This may be achieved, for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/our-agreements-on-creating-the-conditions-for-preparing-a-peace/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [A cemetery saddens us because it is the only place of the world in which we do not meet our dead again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-mauriac/a-cemetery-saddens-us-because-it-is-the-only-place-of-the-world-in/) [Francois Mauriac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-mauriac/) [Browse all 309 Cemetery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "On Decoration Day, while everyone else in town was at the cemetery decorating the graves of our Glorious War Dead, Willie Beaner and me, Robert Burns Hewitt, took Mabel Cramm's bloomers and run them up the flagpole in front of the town hall. 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