Father of dead soldier sets fire to Marine van

A Marine spokesman said the father, who suffered severe burns, 'snapped.'
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) -- Melida Arredondo said she and her husband knew what was coming as three uniformed Marines approached their front door.
While she started to cry, police say Carlos Arredondo simply snapped.
Distraught after being told his Marine son was killed in combat in Iraq, Carlos Arredondo climbed into the Marine Corps van parked outside his home and set it ablaze Wednesday afternoon, suffering severe burns.
"My husband immediately knew that his firstborn son had been killed -- and my husband did not take the news well," Melida Arredondo said before police escorted her to the hospital.
"It doesn't surprise me that he was so traumatized. He went crazy," she said.
The three Marines went to the house to tell the father and stepmother of Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo that their 20-year-old son had died Tuesday in Najaf, family members said.
The father then walked into the garage, picked up a propane tank, a lighting device and a can of gasoline he used to douse the van, police Capt. Tony Rode said. He smashed the van's window, got inside and set it ablaze, despite attempts by the Marines to stop him, Rode said.
Pulled from van
The Marines, reservists who are members of a military Casualty Assistance Calls Officer team, pulled Arredondo, 44, from the burning vehicle and extinguished the flames on him, police said. None of the Marines was injured but the van was gutted by the fire, Marines spokesman Maj. Scott Mack said.
"The father was in disbelief, same as any of us would be after hearing this kind of news," Rode said. "But then the father basically loses it. You can only imagine what this father was going through. He snapped, to say the least."
Arredondo was initially taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood with burns over as much as 50 percent of his body, emergency officials said.
He was later moved to the major burn unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, about 20 miles south of Hollywood. He was listed in serious condition with severe burns to his arms and legs.
Mixed feelings
Melida Arredondo told the Miami Herald that her husband, an immigrant from Costa Rica, "was very proud of Alex serving," though he wished his service would have been during a "more peaceful" time.
But Luz Marina Arredondo, Alexander's grandmother, felt the government was at fault for her grandson's death.
"I blame them a lot," she said. "They send them like guinea pigs over there."
Marine spokesman Capt. Patrick Kerr in New Orleans told the Herald that the episode was "one tragedy on top of another tragedy."
"Our foremost concern is for the welfare of the father who was burned," Kerr said. "We will do everything we can to help the family through this very difficult situation."
Rode said it was too early in the investigation to discuss possible charges against Arredondo. "We'll see how he recovers before doing anything," he said.
U.S. forces in Najaf have been battling for nearly five months against Iraqi militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
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