Boston Marathon Bombings' Guardian Angel In A Cowboy Hat: Carlos Arredondo

As the dust settles on what has become a tragic day in Boston's history, heroic stories of compassion and bravery begin to surface. In the face of catastrophe, proud Bostonians pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and proved their fortitude to the rest of our wounded nation. Restaurants citywide opened their doors for those in need of food and telephones. Good Samaritans offered their homes as a place to rest as panicked citizens searched for their loved ones. Civilians donated so much blood that the city was prompted to ask the public to stop. Among the long list of heroes who provided a silver lining of hope, one name in particular continues to permeate into conversation.

Carlos Arredondo came to Boston to honor the deaths of his two sons, and that's exactly what he did. The long-time peace activist and American Red Cross volunteer stood up in the face of impending peril to help those who needed it most. He jumped from the bleachers, clutching his small American flag and camera and dashed across Boylston street towards a group of fallen bodies. He dropped his flag and snapped four photos to document a young man who had lost half of his left leg in the explosion. He then put down his camera to place his blood-tarnished flag in his back pocket and sprung into action.

Arredondo has lived in the United States since 1980, originally hailing from Costa Rica. He came to the race with his wife to greet the National Guard runners and a suicide support group in support of his late sons. Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo died in 2004 in the midst of a firefight in Najaf, Iraq when he was 24. His eldest son, Brian Arredondo, had long-battled depression following the death of his younger. He committed suicide in 2011. But when tragedy struck Boston at 2:45 p.m., he put the past away and went to save those who his son had fought to protect.

"My first reaction was to run toward the people," Arredondo he said to ABC News. "There was so much commotion and a lot of people running away. I was one of the first to help people and God protected me. It was horrific."

Arredondo stood alongside the young man, using his experience as a fireman and rescuing injured bullfighters in Costa Rica to tend to the wound and gain control of the situation at hand. An angel, as Arredondo describes, appeared with a wheelchair out of the dust and rubble and prompted him to lift the man into the seat. The two then ran down Boylston, wheeling the victim past the marathon's medical tent.

In the years following his son's death in Iraq, Arredondo has gained a reputation for carting around a mobile memorial. The memorial displays a coffin containing photos Alexander along with his most coveted belongings. "As long as there are Marines fighting and dying in Iraq, I'm going to share my mourning with the American people," he said to the New York Times in 2007. On Monday, Arredondo didn't just share his mourning. He used it as fuel to make his country and his sons proud.

Arredondo pushed through the hectic Boston crowd, desperately searched for an approaching ambulance. As they ran, the torn sweater that Arredondo had used to prevent the victim from bleeding out began to unravel. The wound began bleeding once again. The tourniquet had completely slipped off. Arredondo bent down, retied to bloody scraps, and continued his pursuit of an ambulance.

A photo of Arredondo wearing a cowboy hat and following the injured bystander to safety has quickly become an iconic image of America's bravery. The picture features Arredondo pinching the man's artery that dangles from his severed knee as they rush down Boylston.

Arredondo eventually found the ambulance he had been so determined to find, but when the EMT asked him what the victims name was, he had forgotten. On Tuesday, he still couldn't remember his name, but appropriately so. Arredondo had no intentions of being a savior. He never sought to help any individual, but to help all of humanity.

Following the disaster, President Obama defined America by how we responded to the tragic events: "Selflessly. Compassionately. Unafraid." On a day forever shrouded in despair, Arredondo personified just that.

"I did my duty," he said. Simply put.