Jamaica Plain (MA) hub soon to bear name of a Marine hero

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Lance Corporal Alexander Arredondo died at 20 in Iraq.


Jamaica Plain hub soon to bear name of a Marine hero
By Matt Rocheleau
Globe Correspondent / December 20, 2010

Alexander Scott Arredondo had always had a strong connection with Jamaica Plain.

He lived on the neighborhood’s main corridor, went to day care there, played at Jamaica Pond, and attended youth activities at the firehouse. Many family members live there.

Jamaica Plain is also where loved ones paid their final respects to the slain Marine when his wake and funeral were held six years ago at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.

Now Arredondo’s connection to the neighborhood will be remembered permanently.

The Post Office in the neighborhood’s center, no more than a 10-minute walk from Arredondo’s childhood home on South Street, will be named in honor of the 20-year-old Marine lance corporal, who was killed committing a heroic act during a battle in Iraq in 2004.

“It just seemed so appropriate to have Alex remembered in Jamaica Plain,’’ his stepmother, Melida Arredondo, said in a phone interview Friday. “After we’re gone, that building will still be here, and that’s how he and his legacy will be remembered.’’