Maureen Anderson lost two sons serving overseas with the Canadian military, even though they died years after leaving the continent from the hot sands and violence of the Afghanistan war.
Growing up, Ron Anderson was more serious and a “little warrior,” his mother recalls. His younger brother Ryan was quieter and gentler. Both enlisted in the military before graduating from high school and had already decided on their career paths.
“My sons were very good to me. I miss them very much,” Anderson said in an interview this week from her home in Oromocto, near Fredericton.
Ron Anderson, a father of four and a sergeant, committed suicide in 2014 at the age of 39. Ryan, also a sergeant and father of two, died in 2017 at the age of 38. Anderson prefers not to discuss in detail how they died, but she said both deaths were due to post-traumatic stress disorder suffered as a result of extensive military service overseas, including in Afghanistan. I think it’s a thing.
As this year’s National Silver Cross Mother, Anderson, 78, will travel to Ottawa to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial Ceremony on Nov. 11. The Silver Cross, also known as the Memorial Cross, is awarded to the mother or widow of a Canadian soldier who died on or as a result of active duty.
Anderson said she was “a little overwhelmed,” but honored to have been selected to join the Royal Canadian Legion.
Despite losing only two children, she says she never wished they had chosen a different career. In some ways, military life seemed almost inevitable for both of them.
clock | ‘Neither was the same when they came back.”:
Anderson herself is the daughter of a World War II veteran. Her late husband Peter was a military man and served in the Army.
Parliament Hill Canadian Guards Regiment and the Royal Canadian Regiment. Maureen herself briefly served in the Air Force as a nurse in Ottawa.
She said Ron decided early on to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“It was his life and he loved it,” she said, adding that Ryan wasn’t defeated either.
Ron became a valued Army member, serving in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and then completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan. But after returning from his second deployment in 2007, he changed, becoming aloof and short-tempered, his mother said. “He was different,” she said.
After Ron died, she learned that he had received an award in Fredericton after jumping out of the car to provide first aid.
To a boy on a roadside in Afghanistan despite the dangers around him. Ron didn’t tell anyone because he didn’t want to make a fuss. “That’s what he did, but when I got the certificate, I was devastated because I thought we could have been there,” Anderson said.
She said Ryan started going “really downhill” after his brother’s death. His marriage didn’t work out and he became isolated, sad and withdrawn. He served in Afghanistan with his brother, as well as several overseas deployments including Bosnia, Ethiopia, and Haiti.
A National Post article from Afghanistan in July 2007 detailed the dangers the brothers faced when a series of bombs were dropped.
They attacked a convoy heading to Kandahar province to provide support to Afghan police.
According to an article by Don Martin, just days after a roadside bomb killed six of his fellow Canadian soldiers, Ron Anderson witnessed a suicide bomber detonate and Ryan’s vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. It is said that he did.
Since her sons’ diagnosis, Anderson has publicly advocated for improved treatment for veterans with PTSD. She wonders if the amount of medication Ryan is taking is too high, and wonders if the veteran needs more discussions, more examinations, more specialized doctors. But as it turns out, she doesn’t have the answers.
“I have no idea how much they do for the soldiers,” she said. “I really don’t know, but maybe they’re not doing enough.”
She feels like more people are talking openly about PTSD than ever before, and she wants to use her time as a Silver Cross Mother to ensure this continues.
Now retired, Anderson says she keeps her memories of her sons alive by looking at photos of her sons every day and remembering the happy times. She also has six grandchildren and several great-grandchildren, including one of Ron’s sons who served in the military.
She keeps busy meeting friends and volunteering in the community, including helping with the annual Memorial Day poppy drive. And while her prominent position at this year’s national Nov. 11 memorial service will be something new, she always attends local Memorial Day events wherever she is. I say there is.
My family was stationed there.
“Whether it’s rain, sleet or snow, I’ve never missed one,” she said. “So that was just part of Nov. 11 for me.
everytime. “
