Maureen Anderson lost both her sons to their overseas service in the Canadian Army, even if they died years later and a continent away from the hot dust and violence of the Afghanistan war.
The Canadian Press National Silver Cross Mother Maureen Anderson is shown with photos of her sons Sgt. Ron Anderson, left, and Sgt. Ryan Anderson, in her home in Oromocto, N.B., on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray
Sgt. Ron Anderson, a father of four, died by suicide in 2014 at the age of 39. Ryan, also a sergeant and a father of two, died in 2017 at 38. Anderson doesn’t like to discuss specifics of how they died, but she attributes both deaths to the post-traumatic stress disorder they suffered as a result of their extensive overseas military service, including in Afghanistan.
Despite having lost her only two children, she says she has never wished they opted for different careers. In some ways, a military life seemed almost inevitable for both of them. After Ron died, she learned he had received an award in Fredericton after jumping out of a vehicle to administer first aid to a young boy on a roadside in Afghanistan, despite danger around him. Not wanting to be fussed over, Ron never told anyone. “That was his way, but we were devastated when we got the certificate, thinking we could have been there," Anderson said.
Don Martin's article described Ron Anderson witnessing a suicide bomber detonate and Ryan riding in a vehicle that hit an improvised explosive device, all only days after six of their fellow Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb. She does feel that more people are willing to talk openly about PTSD than in the past, and hopes to use her time as Silver Cross Mother to ensure that keeps happening.
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