492 Cafe

The Arredondos

Mélida Arredondo,
Alexander Brian (Carlos) Arredondo

R.I.P. Brian Luis Arredondo
R.I.P. Alexander Scott Arredondo

Suicide of Brian Arredondo (5/10/1987 – 12/19/2011)

Brian Louis Arredondo was the son of Victoria Foley and Carlos Arredondo, Stepson of Mélida Arredondo, Brother of Nathaniel Foley and Brother of Fallen US Marine Lance Corporal Alexander Scott Arredondo. Brian was 17 when his 20 year-old brother Alex was killed in Iraq on August 25th 2004. In 2011, the Jamaica Plain Post Office was renamed in honor of the older son. (compiled from various sources …For more, see the Boston Globe obituary)

Freeman's blog post regarding Brian's suicide has more info, media and links. Its original function was to provide accurate info, primarily to community reporters at WMBR and WZBC radio. Service times were announced on Sounds of Dissent.

 
Links to more Arredondo content appear below.
 
Activist sound engineer Freeman Z has worked with the Arredondos since 2005, and has amplified photographed and recorded them throughout the Boston area and from Washington DC to his own studio. Freeman was hired by Mélida to manage audio at the 2011 Jamaica Plain post office dedication, renaming it in Alexander's name.
 

As I travel the East Coast, reporting on people's resistance to a government gone haywire, there's nobody I see more often, and in so many different places, as these two, driven by the loss of their son Alex, whose photograph Carlos has held high at rallies, in meetings with elected officials, and most recently, at the premier of the movie "Body of War."

“Carlos” (as I call him, though he has changed his name,) had made headlines long before I met him on Boston Common on October 29, 2005 exactly as he appears in this video.

Carlos had hit the national news on his 40th birthday, the day Alexander died, and the US Marine van came to his home with the dreaded announcement. Carlos told them to leave, but they remained, and eventually, he entered their empty van with fuel, and it ignited. Purely because this was dramatic, the corporate exploitation news circuit aired the story, complete with helicopter footage of the flaming van.

Carlos and wife Mélida Arredondo
speaking on Boston Common in 2008
photos and recordings by the event sound engineer, Freeman Z
 

But when the dust settled, and the burns healed, this handsome man who had emigrated from Costa Rica, (earning his US citizenship in 2007, when he changed his name to "Alexander Brian Arredondo") knew he had to do something to honor Alex's life and death.

He has carried the image of Alexander all over the country, often as part of a display he's created, some say obsessively, a pickup truck, with a trailer in tow. Sometimes the trailer is filled with an arrangement of crutches, crosses and artificial limbs. Sometimes the trailer dons a casket that he bought for this purpose., though the ever-practical Carlos says the box was fitted for his own burial.

I first met Mélida while recording career Army man, Author and B.U. Professor Andrew Bacevich speaking on US Foreign Policy in Roslindale not long after, the Bacevich family lost their only son, also in Iraq. I saw him last on my way to court in Brighton as Boston University struggled to make me pull video of one of their cops breaking the law, a struggle they won.

Late in 2011 Brian Arredondo suicided at age 22, years after losing his brother. I learned of Brian’s suicide through Mélida’s facebook announcement. She had told me he'd been deeply troubled foir quite some time.

I first met Brian earlier this year at the “Smedleys’” Memorial Day observation, which was one of the very few events I can actually enjoy at my leisure, since the Smedleys manage their own sound and stage. Carlos introduced us, then, upon viewing the state of Carlos' traveling memorial, it became obvious to me that he and the 18-inch action figure I'd been saving for years, "Big Sarge" were destined for eachother. The match was made weeks later, in Brian's presence, at the post office ceremony.

Carlos reintroduced me to Brian when the new JP post office was dedicated in Alex‘s name. (articles: Jamaica Plain Patch; Wicked Local) This was before Occupy Boston had sprouted, and Camp Alex, our homegrown-local version of Camp Casey, moved over there for a few weeks.

Freeman Remembers Brian at the Jamaica Plain Post Office Renaming Ceremony
Freeman's media and report from the event includes video of th entire ceremony.

I had already promised Mélida to handle matters of sound and stage by the time Chronos Films & Media generously joined the effort. Chronos assisted tremendously in the event execution, and provided the exclusive video of Brian, as well.

Upon arrival, we had spoken very little about how to proceed, and I was a bit nervous. We had enough time ...If nothing went crazy. But the constant rain complicated everything. Carlos pulled up with the stage canopy in perfect time to keep things on target and safely dry.

The setup and execution went smoothly despite a broken door lock holding hostage the four by eight foot stage I’d built for another rally earlier this spring. (We built and operated a sound truck for a rally and march against Jan Brewer in 2010. I believe the Arredondos spoke at this as well.)

The Mayor of Boston mumbled some patriotic junk and smacked or microphone, despite it's obvious size and careful placement, then Congressman Capuano spoke intelligently, as expected, before the warmongering State Rep Lynch spewed empty rhetoric.

Victoria Foley, Brian’s mother and a few others followed. Brian appeared on stage with each parent.

Sound was intelligible throughout the audience through the event which proceeded through continuous hard rain. Dr. Chronos got a side-shot of the JP post office proceedings, including Brian’s time on stage, through the open rear door of the van from which we ran the public address and recording gear. Nobody was electrocuted. It was a good day. The rain broke. Within minutes we were in warm sunshine enjoying fresh local ice cream donated and served by the founder of J.P. Licks.

I first met carlos while shooting this video in 2005 and later recorded Carlos' simultaneous bi-lingual statement for theduring a brisk crosstown march, a joke of a PR event attempting to associate Senator John Kerry with M.L.K's Selma bridge crossing. The march was a managed PR event. Carlos Arredondo and Mike Borkson both were ordered, by men wearing miniature radio communication devices similar to the Secret Service, to lower their signs, which read respectively, "Dr. King would oppose this war," and if I recall, "my son died in iraq." I got a laugh seeing the unlikely pairing of IAC Boston, the Revolutionary Communists who provided the sound truck for the march, leading the march in front of Senator Kerry. All in all, a good day.

On this day I also met Dr Howard Zinn. Years later I did several projects with Howard. One day at his house in Newton, we discussed the march, which Zinn had viewed from a distance, standing under a tree. He seemed to agree with my criticicism. (This discussion happened as a Massachusetts court was accusing me, among other things, of harassing Dr Zinn.)
 

Some of Freeman Z's Media of the Arredondos

Carlos

Event Appearances

 
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