A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor

In 2005, Dana Canedy's fiancé, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, began writing a two-hundred-page journal for his son in case he did not return from the war in Iraq. He was killed by a roadside bomb on October 14, 2006, when his son Jordan was seven months old. A Journal for Jordan is a mother's letter to her child about the parent he lost before he could speak, combined with a father's advice and prayers for the son he would never know. Charles wrote to his son about withstanding disappointment, dealing with adversaries, and behaving on a date. He also wrote about recovering a young soldier's body from a tank and the importance of honoring that soldier's life. He completed the journal two months before his death during a two-week leave, deeply absorbed in love for his infant son. The book tells the story of Dana and Charles together—two people who loved each other deeply and lost each other too soon. It serves as a tender introduction, a loving goodbye, an inquiry into a soldier's life, and a reminder of the human cost of war.