New Brunswick woman who lost two sons to post-traumatic stress disorder recognized as Silver Cross mother – CP24

Maureen Anderson lost both of her sons while serving overseas in the Canadian Army, even though they died many years later, on a continent far from the hot dust and violence of the Afghan war.

Growing up, Ron Anderson was more serious, “a little fighter,” his mother recalled. His younger brother Ryan was quieter, softer. They both joined the military before graduating from high school, already certain of what their career path would be.

“My boys have been very nice to me and I miss them terribly,” Anderson said in an interview this week from her home in Oromocto, New Jersey

Sgt. Ron Anderson, a father of four, died by 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 doesn’t like to discuss the details of their deaths, but he attributes both deaths to post-traumatic stress disorder, which they suffered as a result of extensive military service overseas, including in Afghanistan.

Anderson, 78, will travel to Ottawa to lay a wreath at the National Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 11 as this year’s national Silver Cross Mother. The silver cross, also called a memorial cross, is awarded to the mothers or widows of Canadian soldiers who died on or as a result of active service.

Anderson found it “a little overwhelming” but said she was honored to be chosen by the Royal Canadian Legion.

Even though she lost two children, she says she never regretted choosing a different career. In some ways, military life seemed almost inevitable for both of them.

Anderson herself is the daughter of a Canadian World War II veteran. Her late husband, Peter, was a soldier, serving in the Parliament Hill Regiment of Canadian Guards and later in 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.

“That was his life and he loved it,” she said, adding that Ryan wasn’t far behind.

Ron became a valued member of the military, serving in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, followed by two tours in Afghanistan. However, after returning home from his second stay in this country in 2007, his mother said, he changed – he became distant and short-tempered. “He just wasn’t the same,” she said.

After Ron’s death, she learned that he had received an award in Fredericton after he jumped out of a vehicle to provide first aid to a young boy on the side of the road in Afghanistan, despite the danger surrounding him. Not wanting to make a fuss, Ron never told anyone about it. “That’s what he did, but when we got the certificate we were devastated, thinking we could have been there,” Anderson said.

According to her, Ryan began to “really deteriorate” after his brother’s death. His marriage was suffering and he became isolated, sad and withdrawn. He served in Afghanistan with his brother, as well as several other deployments overseas, including Bosnia, Ethiopia and Haiti.

A July 2007 article from Afghanistan published in the National Post detailed the dangers the brothers faced when a series of bombs hit their convoy heading to Kandahar Province to support Afghan police.

Don Martin’s article featured Ron Anderson witnessing the detonation of a suicide bomber and Ryan riding in a vehicle that was hit by an improvised explosive device, all just days after six of their Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb.

Since her sons’ diagnosis, Anderson has publicly called for better treatment for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He wonders if Ryan was taking too many medications and if veterans need more conversations, visits and specialist doctors. Ultimately, however, he does not know the answer.

“I don’t know how much they do for the soldiers,” she said. “I really don’t know, but maybe they’re not doing enough.”

She believes that more people are willing to talk openly about PTSD than in the past, and hopes to use her time as a Silver Cross Mother to keep that happening.

Anderson, who is retired, says she keeps her sons’ memories alive by looking at their photos every day and remembering the good times. He also has six grandchildren, including one of Ron’s sons, who joined the military, and several great-grandchildren.

She stays busy hanging out with friends and volunteering in her community, including helping with the annual Memorial Day Poppy Campaign. And while her prominent spot at this year’s national Nov. 11 commemoration ceremony will be something new, she says she has always participated in local Memorial Day events, regardless of where her family was stationed.

“I never missed one, whether it was rain, sleet, snow or whatever,” she said. “So for me, it was always a part of November 11.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

Morgan Lowrie, Canadian Press