Kate Logan, an Oxford Village resident, doesn’t mind that for many people, the Memorial Day weekend is a fun opportunity for backyard barbecues, boating on Michigan’s many lakes and heading north to the old cabin in the woods.

“I want people to enjoy their lives and their freedoms. That’s why I wore the uniform,” said the U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq from 2007-08.

But she also believes folks should remember it’s “the sacrifices” of “past generations” that allow them to do all that.

Logan, who works as a regional coordinator for the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, served as the guest speaker at the Memorial Day ceremony held Saturday afternoon in Addison Township’s historic Lakeville Cemetery, established in 1843. (For photos of the ceremony, please see Page 11).

It’s because of the service and sacrifices of this nation’s military men and women, past and present, living and dead, that “we are able to choose our own destinies and define what freedom means to us,” she said.

Logan, a 2000 Oxford High School graduate, asked everyone attending the ceremony to do her “a favor” over the Memorial Day weekend as they were spending time with family and friends.

“I want you to talk about what freedom means to you,” she said.

To Logan, it means ensuring the United States remains a “democracy.” She wants her four children “and the generations after me” to continue to possess “the liberties that I enjoy here today.”

She called upon her fellow veterans to “talk to everyone you see about your service.”

She encouraged her comrades in arms to tell stories about the “brothers and sisters” with whom they served, especially “the ones who cannot be here today to share their experiences.”

“We have a duty to educate our family, our friends and our neighbors about the cost of war,” Logan said. “And we need to continue to show our community that (we) veterans share an unwavering bond with our comrades, even after death.

“Although all our wars were different, our suffering is the same after we lose a friend on the battlefield.”