Carlos Arredondo

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Carlos Arredondo, photographed by Andy Carvin at the January 2007 anti-war protest in Washington DC.

Carlos Arredondo (c.1960) made national news when his son Marine Lance Corporal Alexander Arrendondo, 20 years old, was killed in An Najaf, Iraq during his second tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom on August 25, 2004. Later that day, Carlos Arredondo's 44th birthday, the Marines' Casualty Assistance Team went to his home in Hollywood, Florida to notify him of his son's death. The Marines had not brought a chaplain with them and notified him in the front yard of his home. After close to 30 minutes during which Mr. Arredondo requested for the Marine to leave, he became extremely upset and agitated. According to Mr. Arrendondo's account, at this point he called his son's Marine recruiter on the phone:

"My head full of confusion, asking myself what's going on, what's going on, I pounded the hammer hard into the ground, then went behind a tree to cry when I think to call Alex's recruiter, Sergeant Martinez. I have his telephone number in my phone. I call him, explain that I'm Alex's father and ask him to please help me, the Marines are telling me Alex has died. The voice on the other side say, "Sir, sir, you've got the wrong number. I look and the phone say "Sergeant Martinez." Pretty sure it was Sergeant Martinez's voice. I call him back again, and again he hung up on me."

^[1]

After some time went by and the Marines refused to leave, according to news reports, Arredondo was so distraught, that he climbed in their van and splashed himself with gasoline. A propane torch he'd brought inside was lit, Arredondo says accidentally. ^[2]^[3]

Mr. Arredondo was pulled out to safety, however his clothes caught on fire and burned 26% of his body. He received second- and third-degree burns. He was hospitalized in a burn unit for two weeks followed by out-patient home based treatment. Despite his burns, he attended his son's funeral on a stretcher with two paramedics at each side.

Mr. Arredondo, who was an immigrant from Costa Rica, had no insurance and was self-employed working as a handyman. His story made national and international headlines. His recovery took over a year.

Since that time he apologized to the Marines for his drastic actions. He was not prosecuted.

Mr. Arredondo along with his wife Melida is a member of Gold Star Families For Peace^[4] whose mission states:

We as families of soldiers who have died as a result of war are organizing to be a positive force in our world to bring our country's sons and daughters home from Iraq, [and] to minimize the human cost of this war...

They have also formed an organization called People United for Peace. He is now an anti-war activist and has speaking engagements around the country speaking about his personal tragedy and to parents about the methods recruiters use to enlist youth. He especially works to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community.

On December 12, 2006, Arredondo became a U.S citizen, with the help of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy.