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Deceased Marine's Gravesite Vandalized

Submitted by tnjp on November 18, 2007 - 5:57pm.

Deceased Marine’s Gravesite Vandalized Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-11-17

Walpole, Massachusetts – In a Boston suburb, vandals defaced the gravestone of a 20-year-old Marine who lost his life to a sniper’s bullet while on his second tour of duty on Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Corporal Alexander Scott Arredondo, USMC was laid to rest on September 4, 2004 in Rural Cemetery located in Walpole, Massachusetts, and the site of a family-owned plot. “The vandalism took place sometime prior to September 28th“, according to Carlos Arredondo, Alex’s father who last visited the gravesite days before...

Arredondo Senior frequently visits the cemetery to keep his son’s plot decorated and neat. On Sunday, October 28th, 2007 an Iraqi American doctor, a videographer and two Viet Nam war veterans requested that Carlos and his wife, Mélida lead them to a visit to Rural Cemetery to pay homage to Alex. “All of us were stunned and saddened by this act of desecration,” stated Mélida Arredondo.

The Walpole police department was called immediately and a report was filed. Carlos and his son Brian Arredondo returned to the gravesite the following day to clean the tombstone and to sand the scratches out of the granite. The pictures above were taken prior to cleaning. If you have information on this matter, please contact the Walpole Police Department at (508) 668-1095 or by sending an email to info@walpolepd.com.

Alex, as friends and family called him, was 20 years and 20 days old when he was killed while part of the siege in An Najaf, Iraq on 08/25/04.

A second troop who was killed while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom is also buried at Rural Cemetery. No sign of vandalism or disturbance was noted at that or any other gravesite.

Here's the pics... from Dante over at kos...