The "Two Tales I Will Now Remember" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Have been reading in the papers and watching TV stories and documentaries about the 50th anniversary of the death of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.  Carol and I were talking about his death on June 5, 1968 and were trying to remember where we were that day when we heard the news.  We both could remember where we were the day his brother, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated as well as the day we heard about the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., but we had to talk a bit before we could remember the same information about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.  

Headlines from the newspaper.

Perhaps after the assassin- ations of so many famous Americans in such a short amount of time, we have become almost used to these events happening on a regular basis.  As I read the stories in the newspaper about Senator Kennedy's death, I found a few interesting stories that I had not read before.  One story was about a witness to the shooting that said she heard two guns firing during the shooting, but authorities altered her story.  Now, after almost 50 years, someone may believe her.  Sirhan Sirhan was arrested, tried and convicted, as well he should have been, but was there someone else who pulled the trigger that day?  Nina Rhodes-Hughes still claims that she heard more than the eight shots said to have been fired that day.  The young actress told CNN that she never said there were eight shots, but that she'd hear 12 to 14 shots.  Three shots hit Kennedy and 6 others were shot that day.  It just doesn't add up.  Other witnesses also mention more that eight shots.  Audio analysis of the scene tell of at least 13 shots.  Even the direction of the shots has been disputed.  Nina was a young actress who had spoken to the Senator earlier that day.  In the kitchen where he was shot she said she had her eyes on him when she heard the first shots.  She said the Senator was almost facing Sirhan when he was shot in the back.  

Sirhan Sirhan

Sirhan's lawyer says there were too many shots, too close together, that they all could have come from his gun.  Nina told of shots being fired from two different directions before she fainted.   When she regained consciousness she saw Kennedy on the floor with his wife above him.  She was horrified and ran from the pantry yelling "They killed him!"  She told authorities she would be glad to testify, but was never called to do so.  So what really happened that day?  Was Sirhan Sirhan really the culprit who killed the Senator?  Did two gunmen fire the shots?  Will we ever know?  This was one story that I read about the shooting while the second one was about a young man with the name of Juan Romero who was 17 at the time of the shooting that day.  He was working in the hotel's kitchen that day when Kennedy was ushered through the kitchen.  Kennedy paused to greet the employees and Romero extended his hand to shake the Senator's hand.  As he shook Kennedy's hand somebody shot him.  According to Romero, Kennedy asked after the shots, "Is everybody OK?"  Romero said "Yes" before cushioning the senator's head with his hands.  He said he could feel a steady stream of blood coming through his fingers.  He had a rosary in his shirt pocket and took it out and wrapped it around Kennedy's right hand as they wheeled him away.  

Juan Romero immediately after the shooting.

The following day, while sitting on a bus, a woman recognized him from his photograph in the newspaper and talked to him.  He remem- bered "looking at my hands and there was dried blood in between my nails."  The day before the shooting he remembered meeting Kennedy after the Senator had made a phone call.  He and another employee had arrived at his room with room service.  Kennedy put the phone down and told Romero and another employee to come in.  Romero remembered coming out of Kennedy's room feeling 10 feet tall after talking with the Senator.  After the shooting, Romero remembered purchasing a new suit and going to Kennedy's burial site in Arlington Cemetery to offer his respects.  He said, "When I wore the suit and stood in front of his grave, I felt a little bit like that first day that I met him.  I felt important.  I felt American.  And I felt good."  I'm sure there are many other stories from the day of the shooting and afterward that have been told, but these two are the ones I will remember.  Even thought I may not know where I was the day he was shot, I now have memories I will remember forever.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.