By Alberto Surís
Carlos Arredondo, the cowboy hat-wearing hero of the Boston Marathon was the Keynote Speaker at the Lawrence Memorial Day celebration held May 25th at the Bellevue Cemetery.
Arredondo is a Costa Rican-American peace activist and an American Red Cross volunteer. Although he never served in the US Armed Forces, he became an anti war activist after his 20-year-old eldest son Lance Corporal Alexander Arredondo was killed in action in Najaf during the Iraq War in 2004, in his second tour of duty.
On December 19, 2011, Arredondo’s surviving son, Brian, committed suicide, after battling depression and drug addiction ever since his brother’s death. He was 24 years old at the time.
Since Brian’s death, the Arredondos have dedicated themselves to attending suicide group sessions and conferences, especially related to military-related suicides. Both have worked with elected officials in the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts to change systems regarding suicide policy.
On April 15, 2013, Arredondo attended the 2013 Boston Marathon. He was there, in Copley Square, when the bombs exploded and immediately sprinted into action pulling debris and fencing away from the bloody victims, clearing the way for emergency personnel to tend to their wounds.
He remains in touch with the victims of the bombings, including Jeff Bauman who lost both of his legs. Arredondo was a spectator of the race, there to support and cheer on members of the National Guard and a suicide prevention group, Samaritans, Inc., that were running in honor of his two deceased sons.
As in previous years, members of the Color Guard of Lawrence High School ROTC, Lawrence Police, Lawrence Fire Department, 6th of Maine and Lawrence Civil War Memorial Guard participated in the ceremony. Brother Rene Roy offered the blessing and closing prayer.
