Cowboy Hat-Wearing Hero of Boston Bombings Is Famed Peace Activist

[WilliamPitt]

Cowboy Hat-Wearing Hero of Boston Bombings Is Famed Peace Activist

There were hundreds of heroes in the aftermath of Monday's tragic bombing attacks in Boston. Doctors, police officers and even former NFL players responded with tremendous courage and saved lives. Carlos Arredondo — easily recognizable in photos and videos because of his cowboy hat — was one of those heroes and is prominently featured in two of the more memorable and traumatic images from Monday's attack.

In the above photo, Arredondo can be seen apparently holding together the femoral artery or tourniquet of a victim who had lost both his legs in the attack. "I kept talking to him. I kept saying, 'Stay with me, stay with me,' " Arredondo told the Press Herald.

(snip)

But who is Arredondo? As several tipsters and and publications have noted, the 52-year-old has quite the past...

Link (w/ graphic photo) : http://gawker.com/5994736/cowboy-hat+wearing-hero-of-boston-bombings-is-famed-peace-activist

[Enrique]

1. he looks good for 52

[niyad]

2. but georgie boy is comfortable with who he is, comfortable with the war.

. . . . . .

"I just screamed," he said. "I said ‘No, no! It can't be my son.' "

Mr. Arredondo said he "lost it." He ran to his garage and grabbed a gallon of gasoline and a propane torch.

He took a sledgehammer and smashed the government van's windshield and hopped inside. As the officers tried to calm him, Mr. Arredondo doused himself and the van with gasoline and lit the torch.
. . . .

The incident – and the 10 months he spent in the hospital recovering – spurred Arredondo to a life of activism protesting the war in Iraq. He drove around the country in his son's truck, which was carrying a coffin and was decorated with pictures of his dead son at his funeral. "As long as there are marines fighting and dying in Iraq, I'm going to share my mourning with the American people...Every day we have G.I.'s being killed, and people don't really care enough or do enough to protest about how the war is going," he told the Times. "Some people say I'm dishonoring my son by doing this, but this is my pain, my loss."

That loss grew exponentially four years later, when Arredondo's surviving son killed himself at age 24, partly out of grief from losing his older brother. Now, Arredondo has again found himself in the midst of tragedy and again responded with resiliency and courage. Below is an interview with Arredondo taken after the bombings.

. . . .

[Hissyspit]

14. Damn, I thought that name sounded familiar.

I think I met him at a protest.

Here's an old thread of mine. First photo:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1815573



A mock flag draped coffin and combat boots in remembrance of Marine Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo, from Randolph, Mass., are positioned across the street from the White House as anti-war protesters gather at Lafayette Park Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

[OKNancy]

3. LBN thread

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014455408

[redqueen]

4. K&R

[The Wizard]

5. He was attacked in DC

by "patriots" known as the Gathering of Eagles while protesting the Iraq War.

[broiles]

6. I met Carlos at Camp Casey. He's a hell of a guy.

[In_The_Wind]

7. We need more people like Carlos Arredondo!

[hamsterjill]

8. Someone please give this man a hug for me!

He's shaking in the interview. It's the stress that a hero goes through AFTER the crisis has passed. The body has to let go.

I am sitting here crying...

Someone, anyone - please hold him and tell him that it's going to be okay because of people like him!

[daleanime]

9. .......

[progressoid]

10. Good lord. Losing two sons.

I wonder if he's shaking from the cold or the trauma

[Trajan]

11. I've been scanning his images this morning with tears in my eyes

To have lost so much, and to carry on afterwards. as he has ... He was already a hero before yesterday's awful events ...

To see what he had done in the tragic moment ... It is inspiring and heartbreaking ....

Thanks Will .... I know you have stood with Carlos in the past ... I'm sure you'll be proud to stand at his side again, as would any of us ....

[veness]

12. Thank you Carlos! n/t

[csziggy]

13. Rev. Al has an interview with him right now!

From some local TV station? Just as I clicked on the link to the story, I looked up and there was Arredondo! I missed most of what he said.

[deutsey]

15. He and his wife are experiencing a lot of trauma, understandably

She said in an interview with Democracy Now! yesterday that they were going to go to counseling and advised others who were in the street that day to do the same.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/16/peace_activist_carlos_arredondo_hailed_as

[Pachamama]

16. Carlos is the man from FL who doused himself w/gas & lit himself on fire when he learned of his sons

....death as a marine in Iraq!!!!! OMG!!!! I remember this story!!!! He was so filled with grief he set himself on fire....he then after surviving has dedicated himself to the memory of his son!

This is making me cry....this man, who has suffered such loss and pain and grief.....he ran to Jeff Baumann and saved his life....he had been there handing out American flags to people in crowd....



Here is an article from NYT in 2007..... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/nyregion/01father.html?_r=2&

[deutsey]

18. Carlos was also there supporting someone who was running the marathon

in honor of his sons.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. I didn't know until last night he was the father who had set himself on fire after his son died.

What an individual. I'm glad he survived his ordeal and was there on Monday to help others.