The Busboy Remembers RFK
November 17, 2024 2:46 PM Subscribe
Juan Romero, the busboy who cradled RFK’s head just after being shot, remembered those moments for StoryCorps. “I remember I had a rosary in my shirt pocket and I took it out, thinking that he would need it a lot more than me. I wrapped it around his right hand and then they wheeled him away."
Juan Romero was 17 in 1968. He was a high school student and also worked as a busboy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
It was there that he twice encountered Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. while the latter was running an insurgent campaign for President. The first time was on June 4, 1968 when he helped deliver room service. The second was the next day when RFK stopped in the hotel kitchen to shake hands.
Seconds later, RFK was shot. A photo was taken of Romero kneeling next to the dying Senator and trying to give comfort in his final moments. It would become an iconic image of a terrible event some called
Romero remained extremely emotional about the incident for the rest of his life. He recalled those moments and what came afterward 50 years later in 2018 for StoryCorps.
In 2010, he says he paid a visit to RFK's grave in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
"I felt like I needed to ask Kennedy to forgive me for not being able to stop those bullets from harming him.”
Romero himself died five months later in October 2018. His age? 68, of course (NPR obituary, NBC News obituary). The Ambassador Hotel was demolished in 2006. The man convicted of the assassination is serving a life sentence in prison.
Previously on the Blue
Juan Romero was 17 in 1968. He was a high school student and also worked as a busboy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
It was there that he twice encountered Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. while the latter was running an insurgent campaign for President. The first time was on June 4, 1968 when he helped deliver room service. The second was the next day when RFK stopped in the hotel kitchen to shake hands.
Seconds later, RFK was shot. A photo was taken of Romero kneeling next to the dying Senator and trying to give comfort in his final moments. It would become an iconic image of a terrible event some called
Romero remained extremely emotional about the incident for the rest of his life. He recalled those moments and what came afterward 50 years later in 2018 for StoryCorps.
In 2010, he says he paid a visit to RFK's grave in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
"I felt like I needed to ask Kennedy to forgive me for not being able to stop those bullets from harming him.”
Romero himself died five months later in October 2018. His age? 68, of course (NPR obituary, NBC News obituary). The Ambassador Hotel was demolished in 2006. The man convicted of the assassination is serving a life sentence in prison.
Previously on the Blue
Thanks for this.
I had just turned 16 and was living in California I had stayed up to watch the returns and the speech he made. I was a supporter of RFK and was totally shocked by it. It hit me a lot harder than JFK where I was only 11 or MLK Jr earlier in 1968.
I agree , America would have been such a different place if he had lived.
posted by jvbthegolfer at 3:42 PM on November 17 [1 favorite]
I had just turned 16 and was living in California I had stayed up to watch the returns and the speech he made. I was a supporter of RFK and was totally shocked by it. It hit me a lot harder than JFK where I was only 11 or MLK Jr earlier in 1968.
I agree , America would have been such a different place if he had lived.
posted by jvbthegolfer at 3:42 PM on November 17 [1 favorite]
My father was a pretty active volunteer for RFK's campaign. ....And then he was shot - and my father was never really politically active after that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:41 PM on November 17
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:41 PM on November 17
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1. FRIENDLY REQUEST: Can we keep punditry and commentary about a certain son of RFK’s to a minimum?
2. I consider myself an amateur historian and find myself increasingly drawn to the “secondary characters” of the great dramas of history. That’s why I wanted to highlight Romero’s story. They are often forgotten or overlooked.
3. I was also the OP here on the Blue in 2018 for the 50th anniversary. At the risk of appearing self-serving, I want to quote myself. I believe in what I wrote then more firmly than ever.
I wasn't alive in 1968. I was born seven years later. But it's Robert Kennedy's death that hits me the hardest as I read about it.
I know he wasn't a saint or hippie. The historical fact is that he was a political pitbull. I get that and understand it.
At the same time, I believe that things would have gone vastly different had he been elected President in 1968. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I believe this country would've been spared having to learn the meaning of words like Vietnamization, "peace with honor," and Watergate. RFK was a symbol of hope for many people and however flawed they ultimately prove to be, symbols matter.
posted by zooropa at 2:48 PM on November 17 [4 favorites]