Dana Canedy was raised as an Army brat and certainly had no
interest in living her adult life subject to the uncertainties and
moves that all military families must endure. She was a journalist
deeply involved in her career at The New York Times when
she first met Charles during a visit with her parents in
Kentucky.

Charles was still healing from a divorce, and Dana had recently
ended a relationship. Neither of them was ready to begin dating
again. But many phone calls took place, and soon the soldier was
visiting the writer in the big city. Their long-distance
relationship had some rough patches, but they were together
whenever their schedules allowed. A few years passed, and their
relationship deepened and strengthened. They planned to marry after
Charles completed his tour of duty in Iraq. Dana became pregnant,
and the baby was due in March 2006.

Dana gave Charles a journal of sorts --- not a blank book ---
but one with a question at the top of each page to prompt the
prospective father to write to his unborn child. Charles busied
himself filling up its pages, often substituting his own questions
so that he could explain certain things to Jordan. He wanted Jordan
to know him. Possibly he felt he might not live to see his son.
Surely that thought entered Dana’s mind as well.

Charles carried an ultrasound image of the unborn baby with him
in Iraq. Though he promised to return to New York for
Jordan’s birth, when the time neared he stayed with his
company of young, combat-inexperienced soldiers. He told Dana they
really needed him and would not leave. Dana also needed Charles,
but she soldiered on in her own way and gave birth to a beautiful,
healthy son without Charles at her side.

A few months later, Charles did manage to get a brief leave to
see Jordan and instantly fell in love with his son. That precious
time flew by as the new family bonded. Then Charles returned to
Iraq with only six weeks remaining until his tour would be up. The
couple had made plans --- for a wedding, for Jordan’s first
Christmas --- that should have lasted a lifetime. But those were
shattered to bits when Charles was killed by a roadside bomb during
a mission for which he volunteered. Once again, Charles, the
conscientious soldier, had placed duty above family.

Dana’s grief seemed bottomless. What she feared most had
actually happened, and now she was left to raise Jordan alone. The
Army gave her a sanitized, official version of what happened ---
that Charles had died instantly. But Dana was skeptical, and the
reporter in her would not rest until she had some plausible
answers. She spent a great deal of time interviewing soldiers who
had served with Charles, asking questions to which she dreaded
hearing the answers. But she needed to know. Finally she pieced the
information together to reach an answer she could accept and
understand.

A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN gives a human face and voice to those
impersonal-sounding statistics --- war casualties --- that the news
anchors report on an all too-frequent basis. The statistic was a
human being --- someone’s much-loved son or daughter, husband
or wife, father or mother. This book reminds the reader of the many
people whose lives are forever changed by the loss of one single
soldier. Though Jordan will grow up with the legacy of his father's
written words along with the love and devotion of his mother, Dana,
he is a victim of the Iraq War as are Dana, the sergeant's parents,
his daughter and countless other people who knew and loved him.