BOSTON (CBS) – Nine years ago, Carlos Arredondo gained worldwide attention and sympathy, for being a grieving father who had a heartbreaking reaction to news that his son had been killed in the Iraq war.

Now he lives in Boston, and has found himself in the middle of the marathon bombing story. He is being both praised and questioned at the same time.

Arredondo running toward the blast and helping victims is one of the lasting images of the bombings.

“I had to to stop the bleeding, so I grabbed this sweater,” said Arredondo. “I ripped it apart and wrapped to stop the bleeding on his limbs.”

It was the reaction from the same man, who was once so broken by grief in 2004, that he set himself and a Marine Corps van on fire after hearing that his young son Alex had been killed in Iraq. Years later, his other son committed suicide. On Wednesday, two days after the marathon attack, his story took another twist.

He says Boston Police and the FBI came to his Roslindale home and questioned him about the bombing. When they left, they took some items.

“They took my clothes, my shoes my pants, my t-shirt, whatever they needed I provided to them,” Arredondo told WBZ-TV.

Arredondo says the agents were just doing their job. “I’m 100 percent supportive,” he says. “It’s very important to support the investigation.”

A neighbor also came by on Wednesday, to thank Arredondo for his actions to rescue victims.

Arredondo said he went to the marathon to cheer on athletes and National Guard troops who were running in memory of both of his sons. He also said authorities also took some photos that he had taken at the event, and that he was happy investigators appear to be closing in on a suspect.