Amanda Anderson remembers Jordan Anderson as “incredibly smart, well-spoken, opinionated and witty.” He is now also the name behind Inuvik’s Anderson Road.
The road, near the town airport, was renamed in a formal ceremony this week to honour Cpl Anderson, who was killed by a roadside bomb alongside five other soldiers and an Afghan interpreter in July 2007.
Jordan was born in Iqaluit and grew up in Kugaaruk, Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik before moving south, Amanda said during a Tuesday ceremony at which a plaque was unveiled.
“Jordan was quietly proud of the work he and his fellow soldiers were doing” in Afghanistan, she said, according to remarks shared by Inuvik’s branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
“He genuinely felt he was making life safer and better for the Afghan people and helping rid the country of international terrorism.
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“Jordan prepared me before he deployed. He said if the worst were to happen, ‘you will meet lots of important people. Tell them to focus on the mission. Not the casualties.'”
Amanda and Jordan’s father, James, attended Tuesday’s ceremony, which came nearly seven years after the town’s initial decision to name the road in Jordan’s memory.
“I am profoundly thankful to the town of Inuvik, its people and the Legion for honouring Jordan’s dedication to Canada through these lasting acts of remembrance,” Amanda said.
