Boston Marathon Hero Arredondo is Parkway Icon

Many people admire Carlos Arredondo locally for his anti-war stance, and after being at the Boston Marathon finish line, he is now a national hero after helping bomb victims.

Arredondo helped tie a tourniquet to a man’s leg that had been all but blown off in the bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon Monday afternoon.

According to Twitter, Mother Jones, Boston.com and other media and social media outlets, Arredondo, 52, helped get the name of the Jamaica Plain Post Office on Centre Street changed in 2011 to honor his son, Lance Corporal Alexander Arredondo, a U.S. Marine who died in a battle in Iraq in 2004.

Carlos Arredondo attempted suicide upon learning of his son's death in 2004, and he surivived and endured another tragedy when his other son, Brian, took his own life in 2011.

Arredondo has since become a known anti-war activist in the Parkway area, calling Jamaica Plain and Roslindale his home. On Twitter, Robin (@Caulkthewagon), who says she connected with Arredondo during Occupy Boston last year, says Arredondo can be seen driving around Jamaica Plain in a van decorated with anti-war slogans. His vehicle is often seen in Roslindale Village at Adams Park, too.

“Nothing Carlos did yesterday surprises anyone who knows him, even those of us who don't know him well. Let's just leave it at that,” she tweeted.