People United 4 Peace

He Walked the Streets of Boston

 

Alexander Scott Arredondo was known as Alex.  He was born at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital on 08/05/84.   All who met him loved him.  He loved everyone.  His best friend gave the eulogy and asked all who attended Alex’s funeral mass held at St. Thomas on September 3, 2004, “Can you imagine a man who cares about every person he meets?”  Alex’s final email to his father and step mom sent just a few days before his demise simply stated, “Tell everyone I love them.”

 

Anyone who saw Alex and Brian, Alex’s kid brother, usually saw one on their Dad’s shoulders and the other waiting for a turn.  Everyone remembers the three smiling.   Those smiles could make the sun shine on a rainy day.  Longtime JPers remember remembers seeing the three heading to a park, the old JP firehouse, Curtis Hall or to row on the pond.  The boys and their Dad loved sports and participated several years in the Soccer Marathon for Peace.  Alex and Brian would play until they would fall asleep from exhaustion.  Their Dad pitched a tent and a hammock under a shade tree right next to the soccer field at the Corner of Washington and Moraine. 

 

Alex chose to be a Marine and was very proud of his decision.  A few days before he was killed, his Dad received his final call from Alex.  He had been fighting.  Alex said to him in an unforgettable voice, “Dad, I hope you are proud of me and what I’m doing.”  Immediately, his Father knew something had happened.  He said, “Alex, I’m proud of you no matter what.  There’s nothing you could do to make me lose the pride I feel for you.”

 

Recently, Alex’s Dad met with Alex’s commanders and many of the troops who were in his company, the Alpha Raiders.  That last call Alex made was apparently after he had single-handedly saved several of the men in his team through an act of selfless heroism that eventually earned Alex a medal of valor from both the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

 

The Alpha’s also explained that Alex was the one who taught the troops how to do amphibious maneuvers, swimming, diving, rowing, all with full pack.  He became an expert surfer in the short time he had at Camp Pendleton in San Diego as well.  He dreamed of one day owning his own surf shop and living at the shore.

 

The Alpha Raiders hauled a cross up a steep mountain where there was a small memorial made for those killed a Guadal Canal during WWII.  The cross was to remember those fallen during their second deployment to Iraq that lasted from May 04 until March 05.  Alex’s name is inscribed there on a brass plate that is attached to the cross along with the other fallen.

 

A corporal who had reported to Alex as team leader brought a huge rock with him.  There were many rocks of all sizes, many with names on them.  Several said Alex so that others knew they were there to remember the green eyed smiling Marine they called “Dondo.”  The corporal hauled this boulder up to the cross with tears in his eyes.

 

In the course of Alex’s 20 years and 20 days he loved and was loved by so many.  He lived life to his fullest.   He had experienced joy, pain, poverty and some plenty.  He knew he had a family that loved him.  He wrote Brian a letter stating, “We have got a great family.”  He would keep in touch with all his friends via email, letters or by calling.  He wrote one of his friends, “Hey, in case you didn’t know where I was, I’m in Iraq.  Did you know there’s a war going on here?”

 

Alex was unsure about returning to Iraq.  He had confided in a few people that he wasn’t as eager to go on his second deployment.  Alex had made friends with many Iraqis.  He learned Arabic and became the interpreter for his team.  He worked with the Iraqi military police and also played friendly games of soccer with them.  He even got to share meals with Iraqis and their families.  Alex loved the children most of all.  He wrote to a friend, “I want the kids to live free…” In the end, that is probably why he went back to Iraq, for the kids.

 

The world has lost someone who was a kind, courageous, smart and humble man, Alex.  One can’t help but wonder about the 2610 other US men and women who perished in Iraq as well as the additional 333 that have died in Afghanistan.

 

Mélida Arredondo lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts.  Her two stepsons are forever Alex and Brian.  Alex was killed by a sniper while in the battle of An Najaf, Iraq on 08/25/04.