WHO IS CARLOS ARREDONDO?
Carlos Arredondo is the Gold Star Father of 20-year old U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Alexander S. Arrendondo who was killed August 25, 2004, by enemy fire in Najaf during a second tour of duty in Iraq. "When three Marines came to their Florida home to notify them [Carlos and his wife, Mélida Arredondo] of Alex's death, Carlos Arredondo went into his garage and came out with a propane tank, a gallon of gasoline and a welder's torch. "He got in the Marines' van and set it on fire while he was sitting inside. They pulled his burning body out of the van and saved him, but Arredondo was severely burned.

"He attended Alex's wake, funeral Mass and graveside service on a stretcher, attended by two paramedics, according to his wife." 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. He has since become an active anti-war activist and travels on a show string budget around the country with his endless war memorial.

To honor Alex's memory, Carlos has been crisscrossing the country attending antiwar rally's pulling a flag-draped coffin. Carlos has visited thirty of the United States with the traveling memorial.

THE ENDLESS WAR MEMORIAL
Mr. Arredondo along with his wife Melida is a member of Gold Star Families For Peace 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.

IN HIS OWN WORDS
Amy Goodman recently interviewed him for Democracy Now: And so, soon after, you began this odyssey, rolling a coffin across the country, an empty coffin. Why are you doing that? But the way I start doing that is for my own personal healing process, making this very public, since the government don’t want we to see caskets during the funerals. And it’s a way for me to share this grieving with the public, because many people live in their own bubbles, and they don’t care really about what’s going on outside their own bubbles, and I want them to feel what they see, what really happens every day, not only in this country, but this happens all over the world.

As you drag this coffin, rolling it across the street, you stop people, just passersby, people who have nothing to do with you, dead in their tracks, when they see this coffin. I met you on Labor Day weekend in Provincetown, Cape Cod. It was the big holiday weekend. You’re coming down Main Street with a pickup truck with this coffin in the back, and people stop. Where else have you gone around the country, and where are you headed now? We’ve been from the East Coast all the way to the San Diego border, to all the way to Olympia, Seattle, Washington state, to Texas, all the way to Idaho and across the country. And today you’re headed?

And the next stop will be Washington, D.C., for the march— First, I went to Philadelphia, and then I’m going to be going to Washington D.C. for the march, and welcome everyone. And also there’s going to be a march here in New York City on Saturday the 18th. Everybody’s welcome. Please participate. It’s our duty and responsibility. And also, after that I’m going to be going for a whole month with a hip-hop tour across country, which we’re going to be going to many different cities.

And on Saturday, you’ll be with the march on the Pentagon. We’re going to be with the organization ANSWER, and participate with many other organizations, who we’re going to be pretty much put in practice the First Amendment of the Constitution, and also trying to let them know that we’re here and we’re going nowhere.

CARLOS BEATEN BY RIGHT WINGERS
Carlos Arrendondo participated in the September 15, 2007, anti-war protest in Washington, D.C., with his traveling memorial—a mock coffin draped in an American flag with the combat boots and a photograph of his eldest son, Lance Corporal Alexander S. Arrendondo, who was killed in Iraq. On September 19, 2007, David Swanson described what can be clearly seen in photographs posted on the organization's website: "Here are photos of members of '' who assaulted gold star father Carlos Arredondo in broad daylight in Washington, D.C., on September 15, 2007, throwing him to the ground and kicking him." Arrendondo's wife, Mélida Arredondo, described the event which unfolded: "As Carlos passed counter protesters, one man ripped a picture of Alex from the memorial. Carlos leaped on the man to retrieve the picture. It was at that point that approximately five others all began to attack Carlos by kicking him in the head, legs, stomach and back. Beating of Carlos at the right wing Gathering of Eagles

Please donate to this awesome activist. Checks or cash accepted. All funds go directly to Carlos Arredondo. Please make checks out to him. Thank you. Amy Levinson, olympiagal@aol.com